Embodiment of Nightmare Moon
by Shritistrang
Summary: Princess Luna begins to realize that the threat of Nightmare Moon is not completely gone... but how will everyone react when the dark forces destroy the Pony Border... the boundary between the worlds of Equestria and Gensokyo?
1. The Beast in the Moon

Author's Note:

Yes, it happened. I have become a brony!

* * *

It was the night of the Grand Galloping Gala, an annual ball held in Canterlot, capital city of Equestria and home to their wise and benevolent ruler, Princess Celestia. And this time around, the Gala would be different, as it was attended by the princess' prize student, the unicorn pony named Twilight Sparkle, and her friends. To say that their actions caused more than one stir was an understatement.

But this story will not tell the exact events happening at the Gala, but instead will focus on one pony that did not attend the Gala… even though she was more than welcome to join. It was the younger sister of Princess Celestia, Princess Luna. Celestia had invited her to join her at the festivities, since this was the first Gala after Luna had returned to her home and sister.

Because the past thousand years, she had been imprisoned on the moon, banished there by her older sister herself…

Ever since Twilight Sparkle and her five friends had turned her back to her normal self, using the Elements of Harmony, Luna had sworn to herself that she would never allow herself to be turned back into the evil, black mare she had been, Nightmare Moon.

Instead of joining her sister and their guests in the ballroom, the banquet hall and the palace gardens, she locked herself up in the castle's library, reading one book after the other.

Luna had been feeling restless the past couple of days. After she was welcomed back in Equestria, she was just overjoyed to be back to normal. But not soon after that, she started thinking. How could she have been turned into Nightmare Moon in the first place? Was it really just her feelings of anger and jealousy that transformed her? Or… was there some other force at work? Even she did not know everything about the mysteries the moon held.

But even after days, even weeks of searching and studying, she could not find anything within the old, dusty books inside the library. There was no similar case of such a transformation in the history of ponykind before her own either.

Luna sighed to herself as she turned around to the huge bookcase behind her. There were still hundreds of books she had not touched yet. "I have to find out more," she muttered to herself. "I can't allow this to happen again…" Using her magical horn, she levitated one of the books down to the table she was standing at, opened and began reading anew. She stayed in the library until after midnight, and even after most of the guests had left. She was so focussed on her work that she did not even hear it when the stampede of animals came rampaging through the ballroom downstairs.

Hours later – the new day was already dawning – her sister softly knocked against the library door with her hoof. "Luna… are you still in there? The guests have left… Twilight and her friends have also returned home by now. Don't you want to go to bed?"

Luna was feeling tired, but she had the feeling she was getting close to finally solving the mystery. "Not yet, sister!" she shouted through the locked door. "I have to figure this out!"

"You really should take a break… can't you at least open the door? Can we talk? I'm worried about you, you know?" Celestia asked.

Luna really was glad that her sister didn't hold a grudge against her… for all she had done as Nightmare Moon, it wouldn't have surprised her… but Celestia wasn't like that. She was the most forgiving pony in Equestria and welcomed Luna back in Canterlot right after she had turned back to normal. Still, she felt… uneasy when talking to her. As if she had no right to enjoy the closeness to her sister… as if she didn't deserve it.

"I know I'm close to finding the solution, big sister," Luna shouted. "I'll be coming out as soon as I'm finished, not earlier."

She could hear Celestia's sad sigh from behind the door. "Very well… I'll be in my room. If you need anything, if you need to talk… I'll want you to know I'll be there for you, little sister. Always."

* * *

Meanwhile, in a completely different country called Gensokyo…

This morning, Yukari Yakumo awoke with a growing feeling of unease. She was unable to tell where this feeling was coming from, but it grew stronger the more she tried to figure it out. She then did what she usually did when getting such a feeling: Checking if the Hakurei border, the boundary that kept the human world separated from Gensokyo, was still intact. It was as stable as it was every other day.

However, the feeling of unease remained. It was like a horrible itch that you know about, but scratching wouldn't work, since you don't know the exact source of the itch. Whatever it was, Yukari was certain about one thing: Itches like that normally only occurred whenever there was a major 'incident' befalling Gensokyo.

Her shikigami Ran opened the door to her bedroom with a bright smile. "Rise and shine, Yukari-sama! The sun is already up in the sky! Let's meet this brand new day with a smile."

Ran really wasn't surprised to find her mistress still in bed. For those who knew her, Yukari was infamous for being a sloth. Everyone knew that she preferred to let Ran do the housework and only get in action when there was something really important happening that needed to be taken care of.

Which was why Ran was surprised when her mistress jumped out of bed faster than she had seen her move in… was it months, years? And the way she quickly got dressed made the kitsune wonder if there was something wrong with her.

"Yukari-sama… you are not sick, are you?" Ran asked as she felt her forehead. "Shall I get you a thermometer? Do you want me to prepare a hot footbath and some warm blankets?"

"Stop that, Ran," Yukari said in annoyance. "This isn't the time for jokes. Now, get me my umbrella… I need to go out. Please take care of the house while I'm gone and prepare a huge dinner for when I return in the evening, I'm probably going to be hungry."

Of course Ran sighed when she found herself once again burdened by all those tasks. "But Yukari-sama… where are you going?" she asked while she gave Yukari her umbrella.

"To the moon!" Yukari replied before creating one of her portals out of thin air. She stepped through and left a bewildered kitsune behind.

Ran blinked a couple of times. "The… moon?" she blurted out. "Cheeeeeeeeen!"

"Whats's the matter, Ran-sama?" asked the young, cute Nekomata resident of the Yakumo household and own shikigami of Ran as she popped up next to her mistress.

"Yukari-sama is acting weird again…" Ran muttered. "Please be a dear and get me some aspirin… I have the feeling I'm going to need it…"

* * *

Before heading to the moon, however, Yukari appeared in the middle of Eientei, the huge house in the middle of the bamboo forest, home to two former residents of the moon… the fugitive Lunarian Princess Kaguya Houraisan and her advisor/genius pharmacist, Eirin Yagokoro. Oh, and a countless number of rabbits, too.

Yukari appeared right next to a certain earth rabbit called Tewi, who let out a gasp of surprise. "WHAH! Who are you?"

"No time for introductions," Yukari said in a stern voice. "Your princess knows who I am… just tell her Yukari is here and needs to speak with her. Nevermind, I'll tell her myself… where is she?"

"N-now wait a minute…" Tewi stuttered. While she loved playing pranks on others, she hated being surprised out of the blue like that. "Princess Kaguya is extremely busy at the moment… as is Mistress Eirin, to be exact…"

"Yukari?" another rabbit, this one taller, with long, purple hair asked as she stepped into the corridor where Yukari had appeared just a moment ago. "What are you doing here?"

"Reisen, you tell that girl to take me to Kaguya or Eirin before I'll create a portal underneath her feet which will drop her right into the arctic ocean!"

Tewi blinked. "You're bluffing!"

"Yukari never bluffs," Reisen told the smaller rabbit. Turning to Yukari, she said: "Just come along and I'll take you to the mistress."

"Not Kaguya?" Yukari frowned.

"No offense, Yukari… but if the princess is disturbed for no good reason, she can get just as mad and scary as you. Let's just hope Mistress Eirin is in a good mood today…"

The moon rabbit lead Yukari down into Eientei's basement where Eirin had her laboratory. Taking a deep breath, Reisen carefully knocked at the door. "Um… Mistress?"

"Reisen!" came the happy voice of Eirin. "I was hoping you'd come. There's this reeeaaally tricky experiment you could help me with…"

Reisen gulped. "I… I'd love to, mistress, but… see, we have a visitor?"

The door opened and revealed Eirin, wearing a lab coat and a pair of huge goggles over her eyes. "A visitor?"

"Oh no, she's in 'mad scientist' mode again…" Reisen muttered. She then removed the goggles.

The pharmacist blinked. "Oh! It's you…" she frowned when she saw Yukari. "What do you want?"

"I need to talk to your princess," Yukari replied. "As I've said multiple times today. And I don't really have the time for any games, so just take me to her."

Eirin shook her head. "The princess gave me the special order not to disturb her within the next five hours while she's in her room… meditating."

Yukari raised an eyebrow. "Meditating?"

Reisen raised a finger. "Actually, she's playing that new MMORPG she found on the internet and…"

Eiren forcefully put her hand on the moon rabbit's mouth before she could speak on. "Reisen…if you don't want me to test that new medicine on you, you better think twice about continuing that sentence."

Reisen gulped and nodded weakly.

Yukari then walked up in front of Eirin and glared at her. "Listen… I will only say this once: Go in there… and drag that loyal brat off her lazy butt and in front of me, you hear me?"

Both Eirin and Reisen gasped at Yukari's words. "You… you just can't walk in here and make demands…" Eirin stuttered.

Not wasting any word, Yukari created another portal and stepped through… right into the middle of Kaguya's room, who nearly fell off her computer chair in shock.

"Y-yukari!" she gasped. "How d-dare you…"

"Listen up, Kaguya!" Yukari shouted as she stormed up to the bewildered princess and stabbed her with her index finger. "I'm in a very bad mood and I'm here on VERY important business! So you better cut the crap and answer this question: What do you know about the nightmare beast in the moon?"

Kaguyas eyes widened. "The… the nightmare beast…"

"ANSWER ME, KAGUYA!"

Just then, the door opened and Eirin and Reisen came in. "Princess!" Eirin gasped. "I'm so sorry, I will remove the intruder at once..:"

"Eirin, be quiet!" Kaguya ordered in an unusually calm and collected voice. She then looked at Yukari in an inquiring manner. "Why do you need to know about the nightmare beast in the moon, Lady Yakumo?"

Eirin paled. "The… the nightmare beast…"

"What's that?" Reisen asked. No one replied.

"I felt something on the moon this morning," Yukari explained. "Something pressing against one of my borders… a dark force I haven't felt for the past thousand years… a force that the Lunarians were supposed to keep sealed in the moon for all eternity!"

"What are you saying?" Eirin shouted. "Of course we were keeping it sealed! The nightmare beast is an ancient demon, too dangerous to leave it free. As a servant of the royal family, I know that the seal binding it was supposed to stay intact for at least another thousand years."

"Actually, Eirin," Kaguya sighed. "That's not the truth."

Eirin stared at her princess with wide eyes. "What…?"

Kaguya slowly stood up. "No one outside the royal family of Lunaria knows the truth," she said. "We swore to keep it a secret… but then again, I was exiled from the moon… so I don't really have a reason to keep it a secret anymore." She took a deep breath. "The nightmare beast… it escaped. A long time ago. And not only that… it disappeared. We could never find out where it went or what happened to it, but… fact is, the cell we were keeping it in was empty."

"I knew it…" Yukari sighed.

"Princess…" Eirin whispered. "Why didn't you… all those years… why didn't you TELL me?"

"I saw no reason," Kaguya shrugged. "And if the commoners learned that the nightmare beast escaped, it would have caused a panic. It was our biggest fear that it would one day show up to take its revenge… but it never came back."

"It didn't… because it wasn't in this world anymore," Yukari said.

Everyone looked at her. "Beg your pardon?" Kaguya asked.

"I don't know how… but it crossed the borders between Gensokyo and another world the night it escaped…" Yukari's voice sounded very strained. "I knew I felt something… all those years ago… but I never understood what it was… but today, I felt the very same thing… like a knock against the door between worlds… the boundary is in danger…"

"Another world?" Kaguya asked. "What world are you talking about?"

"Gensokyo and the human world… are not the only worlds with a moon, princess," Yukari tried to explain. "When the beast crossed over into that other world… it found itself on another moon. I can't say what exactly happened there… but I felt something this morning. And if my fears are correct… then it wants to return back into this world… maybe it already has!"

"In that case, we need to check!" Kaguya said. All who knew her were surprised to see her for once not acting like a spoiled, lazy brat, but instead like a regent who knew that she was about to face a crisis. "Lady Yakumo… can you bring us to the moon with one of your portals?"

"Princess? You want to go back to the moon?" Eirin gasped. "Now? But the other Lunarians…"

"I couldn't care less about them at this moment, Eirin!" Kaguya said sternly. "The nightmare beast is a horrible creature that cannot be allowed to roam this world freely. Lady Yakumo, know that you have our full support."

Yukari nodded. "I appreciate it, princess… I say we don't waste any time with trying to explain things to your people. I will create a portal that brings us right into the former holding cell of the beast."

"That seems like a wise decision," Kaguya nodded. She turned to face Eirin and Reisen. "Eirin… you stay here and take care of Eientei while we're gone. Don't talk to anyone about this until I'm back… and that goes for you, too Reisen!" She glared at the nervous moon rabbit. "Did anyone else notice Lady Yakumo's visit today?"

"W-well, only Tewi…"

"Lock her up until I'm back. And now, we shall go." She nodded towards Yukari, who created another portal. And then, both of them were gone.

"Uh… what just happened?" Reisen asked. "Was she serious about locking Tewi up, mistress?"

"Kaguya-sama NEVER jokes when she's like this, Reisen…" Eirin muttered. "Let's just hope she and Yukari can do something about this. The nightmare beast… you don't want to know what it's capable of, Reisen."

* * *

A dark and empty cave. Nothing out of the ordinary, most people would say. However, this cavern was situated deep below one of the biggest high security building ever built by the Lunarians on the moon, outfitted with the most modern technology you could find in the entire moon capital. Except for the heavily guarded high security shaft that lead here from the surface, dozens of miles deep, there was no entrance and exit. Getting in here without being spotted by any guards or security cameras was virtually impossible.

Still, no one of the Lunarians noticed when a strange gap, filled with a dark red light and a multitude of non-blinking eyes opened in the air inside the cave. And soon after that, two people stepped through the gap…

Yukari took a look around after closing the portal behind her and Kaguya. "So this is the cavern in which the Nightmare Beasts was sealed for eons?"

"Yes, indeed," Kaguya nodded. Yukari noticed that she looked a bit nervous. Then again, it was quite understandable, given the fact that they were directly under the moon capital, the place she had once lived in and was banished from. Who knew what the Lunarians would do once they found out that their exiled princess was walking right underneath their feet?

"Let's finish this quickly," Yukari said as she began to investigate the whole cave. Slowly, she began pacing forth and back through the darkness. For her, there seemed to be nothing out of the usual. "Do you see… or feel… anything that is not like it should be?"

Kaguya shook her head. "No… the security field is intact, none of the walls seem to be damaged in any way. I don't understand how the beast could have escaped this place."

Yukari then stopped in a certain spot. "This is it…" she murmured as she stared down at her feet. "The boundaries… they are very weak at this spot. This is where it must have escaped. Still… the border is intact. Only beings that possess the same powers as me should be able to break them… OR fix them."

"You say this is a border?" Kaguya asked as she approached Yukari. "A border of what exactly?"

"A border between worlds… similar to the Hakurei border. But behind this border lies not the human worlds, but something else… something I haven't seen in a very long time. A world I usually never have contact with…"

"And the Nightmare Beast escaped to that world?" Kaguya asked.

"Apparently… the only way we can be sure is to open a gap and see for ourselves." She held out a palm and invoked her powers… her powers to control all kinds of boundaries. And then, another gap opened up right in front of her.

A gap through which a dark blue mist was seeping.

Yukari gasped as soon as she realized her mistake. 'I'm such a fool…' she thought. 'I thought the Nightmare Beast was lying hidden somewhere in that other world… but instead, it waited just on the other side of the border, on the other world's moon… and lured me right into this trap.'

"Soooo nice to be back in my old world," chuckled an amused voice. "And to see such familiar faces… Princess Kaguya, the exile seems to treat you well."

"It talks?" Kaguya whispered in shock. "It never talked before… it was a mindless beast of destruction…"

"That was before my visit to the world beyond this border… when I took possession of that girl… a foolish princess, not unlike you, Kaguya… I absorbed more and more of her being into myself… her intelligence and personality, merged with my own… turning me into a completely different being than I was before."

Yukari raised her hand and fired a barrage of bright danmaku bullets at the dark cloud. But they harmlessly passed through it. The entity chuckled. "That was foolish, Yukari… I am a being with no body. Only by possessing other creatures can I have my own body. Still, since you seemed so intent on findind me… why don't you become one with me?"

Yukari had only time to gasp when the cloud surrounded her from all sides. And then the impossible happened… the dark smoke began to seep through her skin, into her body. Before she lost consciousness, Yukari could only think: 'I just doomed Gensokyo…'

The dark mist clouded Yukari's body from Kaguya's view, but the moon princess could see that something was moving in there, stretching the boundary Youkai's body to unimaginable limits and distorting her previous figure.

And then the mist cleared… and revealed the new figure standing in front of her. It was an inhuman, four-legged creature with wings as black as the night and a wicked horn on its forehead.

Kaguya stared at the black, winged unicorn in disbelief while the creature chuckled.

"Finally… I am back! Nightmare Moon… is reborn! And now I will take my revenge on BOTH Gensokyo and Equestria! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Not if I can stop you…" Kaguya hissed as she began to float up and focussed her powers. "You made a mistake, demon… you thought you could overwhelm and surprise us with your plan? Too bad for you… I am immortal! You can never kill me!" She chuckled.

Nightmare Moon smirked. "Oh, I don't plan on killing you, dear princess… for now, you can just return to your precious Gensokyo… while I set my own plan in motion! With the new powers of the one I am possessing, I will shatter the boundaries between the worlds! Now BEGONE!" And with a flash of her horn, one of Yukari's portals appeared right behind the surprised princess, swallowing her whole.

* * *

Kaguya appeared back in Eientei, landing roughly on the floor of her own room. For a moment, she was dizzy and couldn't see straight.

"Princess?" she heard the worried voice of Eirin. "Thank goodness you've returned… something very strange has happened…"

"Please, Eirin, no matter how strange it is, it can't be worse than what I just witnessed," Kaguya muttered as she tried to get back to her feet. For some reason, her limbs did not quite react the way they were supposed to. "Lady Yakumo… was just possessed by the Nighmare Beast!"

"Well, then this might be just the reaction to that… even though I am not quite certain about the reasons for this kind of effect."

"Just what are you talking about, Eirin?" Kaguya asked as she looked up and for the first time saw Eirin's face clearly.

Staring back at her was a white-furred unicorn pony with same cap Eirin always wears. And when Kaguya looked down at herself… she saw a slightly smaller, pink-furred unicorn with wings.

"She did it… she really did it…" whispered the transformed pony princess.

"Who did what?" Eirin wondered. "You know why we turned into… this?"

"She… Nightmare Moon… she destroyed the boundary between worlds…" Kaguya muttered as she pushed herself up… on all fours. "And now it's affecting our world… she destroyed the PONY BORDER!"


	2. Return of the Troublemakers

„Observe, ponies of Manehattan! Observe how the Great and Powerful Trixie pulls a magical creature… right out of her hat!"

The blue unicorn standing high above her audience made some elaborate gestures with her front hooves while blue and purple smoke surrounded her. And with one sparkle of her horn… she made a small, fluffy bunny levitate out of the top hat standing in front of her.

The audience seemed unimpressed.

"That trick is so old," yawned an elderly gentleman stallion. "Why, even my grandfather has watched tricks like this in his days."

"You call your self great and powerful, then why are all of your tricks so… so boring?" the grey-furred lady next to him sighed.

Trixie smiled at her audience, but inwardly, she felt frustrated like never before.

"W-wait until you see my next trick," she quickly said. "The magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie will most certainly bedazzle you!"

"Hey! Isn't that the unicorn who came to Ponyville with her show?" someone from farther behind shouted. "She said all different sorts of lies, how her magic was real and such… while all she really can do was cheap tricks! I'm out of here."

Unsatisfied murmurs were growing louder in the crowd while more and more of the spectators left the distraught Trixie behind.

"Wait… please, just stay and watch one more…" she pleaded. But soon enough, the entire crowd was gone. Trixie sat down on her haunches and groaned miserably. "My career is ruined… no one wants to watch any of my tricks again… only because that show-off Twilight Sparkle upstaged me!" Angrily, Trixie stomped the ground a few times. "It's all her fault if I never get any chance to get any success with my show anywhere in Equestria… Gosh, I need a drink…"

Frustrated and upset, Trixie walked over to the nearest coffee shop where she sat down at an empty table.

"Your order, miss?" the waiter pony asked.

"Gimme a whole plate of donuts!" Trixie grumbled. "Extra sprinkles!"

The waiter raised an eyebrow, nodded and walked away.

"Hey!" an irritated voice next to her suddenly shouted. "That's my table! Can't a gryphon go to the bathroom without having her seat taken away by some pony jerkface?"

Trixie looked up… into the face of an angry-looking, female gryphon, a rare sight in Manehattan or anywhere in Equestria. But not too unusual either.

"How was I supposed to know that this was your table?" Trixie huffed. "Besides, theres more than enough chairs here."

"Actually, there isn't!" the gryphon snapped. "I hate sharing my personal space with losers who can't even put up a decent magic show!"

Now Trixie angrily glared at her. How dare that beast remind her of her shameful failure. "Well, there are other tables. The Great and Powerful Trixie would never share a table with an uncouth beast like you!"

"Listen, Pricksie!" the gryphon growled. "I was here first, so why don't you buzz off? Or else I'm gonna give you a smackdown!"

"Hey, take it outside," the waiter frowned. "Gilda, I told you once: If you irritate my customers again you can find yourself another place to 'hang out'."

"Well, I'm not leaving until I had my donuts," Trixie proclaimed. "And if this uncivilized gryphon does not know how to act around sophisticated ponies, she should go someplace else."

"Oh yeah! And if a certain prissy unicorn can't stop her bitching and whining, this gryphon is gonna stuff her down her own top hat," Gilda snarled.

"Just try it you brute!" Trixie shouted as she used her magical powers to move away the chair Gilda just wanted to sit on, causing the gryphon to land on her behind.

With an angry roar, Gilda jumped back to her feet, picked up some donuts from another customer's plate and threw them at the unicorn. "You wanted donuts? JUST TAKE THEM!"

Trixie grunted as she was smacked in the face by circular dough food. She was just about to lift another plate and magically throw it at the gryphon, when the tall, burly bouncer stallion of the café stepped up next to them. Both Trixie and Gilda nervously glanced up and met his angry frown. Simultaneously, they pointed at each other and shouted: "She started it!"

* * *

Less than a minute later, the two found themselves lying on the pavement in front of the café. "Don't come back until you've learned to behave," the bouncer grunted before closing the door.

Angrily, Gilda pushed herself up and rubbed her beak. "Nice work getting us thrown out, Pricksie!" she growled. "That's the only place that still tolerated me… stupid, stuck-up ponies…"

"Me, getting us thrown out?" Trixie replied. "I say it's your obnoxious attitute that got us into trouble, you winged buffoon! All I wanted to do was to relax after that disaster of a show…"

"Do you believe you're the only one with problems?" Gilda shouted. "I can't show my face anywhere since that jackass Pinkie Pie humiliated me in Ponyville. And to think my formerly best friend even sided with her…"

"Wait… you're saying you got into trouble in Ponyville, too?" Trixie wondered. "Pinkie Pie… wasn't she befriended with that witch Twilight Sparkle?"

"You know that violet-nosed snob?" Gilda asked in surprise. "Yeah, she's a friend of Rainbow Dash, isn't she? And then there are those other three…"

"The thug Applejack, the stuck-up Rarity and the coward Fluttershy," Trixie nodded. "Looks like we have common enemies…"

"Man, how I hate those idiots!" Gilda growled. "I'd love to shove those annoying grins of theirs down their throat…"

"And pay them back for the humiliation," Trixie nodded.

"Oh, if it's payback you want… I can help you with that," an omynous voice spoke up. Trixie and Gilda turned around in surprise when a dark, winged figure came stepping out of a side alley.

"Come with me… and I will help you make your wishes come true," Nightmare Moon smiled.

* * *

It was a bright and sunny day in Ponyville. The Pegasus ponies were keeping the skies nearly cloudless and the inhabitants of the little town cheerily went after their daily work.

"All right.. class is over for today." smiled Cheerilee, teacher at the school for little fillies and colts. "And don't forget to do your homework."

The young ponies laughed and cheered as they ran outside the building. Among them were the self-prolaimed 'Cutie Mark Crusaders'.

"All right, Crusaders!" shouted Apple Bloom. "Meeting at our clubhouse right nooow!"

"But what about the homework?" Sweetie Bell asked her two friends.

"Aw, you can be such a party-pooper, Sweetie Bell," Scootaloo sighed.

"Oh fine… meeting at our clubhouse right after our homework is done," Apple Bloom corrected herself.

"YAAYY!" the Cutie Mark Crusaders shouted as they raced to their respective homes.

But by the time they reached the clubhouse…

"Whaaaaaaaat?" Scootaloo shouted. "What happened here?"

The three little fillies glanced up in disbelief, at the ruined shack that was once their clubhouse. The windows were broken, there were holes almost everywhere and the door was mysteriously missing.

"I can't believe it… after all the hard work we had!" Apple Bloom screamed. "Who did this?"

"Yeah… and what happened to the door?" Sweetie Bell wondered.

"Oh… you looking for this?" a mischievous voice laughed. The Cutie Mark Crusaders could only watch in horror when the huge, muscular gryphon flew up in front of them, raised the remains of the clubhouse door up in the air with her claws and smashed it through the last window that was not broken yet.

"You can't do that!" Scootaloo shouted. "You big meanie!"

"Oh yeah?" the gryphon sneered. "Well, maybe I can do THIS!" And with both front legs, she took hold of the clubhouse roof, using all her strength to rip it off. With a loud crash, the roof came falling down, nearly missing the three frightened fillies.

"G-girls… I think it might be time to leave…" Sweetie Bell muttered nervously.

Apple Bloom nodded. "Yeah… let's tell Applejack and the others… maybe they can do something about this jerk." And they turned around and ran.

"Just you wait!" Scootaloo shouted back. "This isn't over! I'm gonna tell Rainbow Dash and then you'll be sorry!"

Gilda grinned as she lay down on the remains of the clubhouse. "Oh, I'm counting on it… I'm counting on it…"

* * *

Meanwhile, Spike was busy bringing some order into the library – once again. Owlowiscious was watching the young dragon from his perch.

"Let's see…" Spike muttered as he carried a huge pile of books to the leftmost bookcase in the room. "Those all belong in the astrology section… and those to the history books and… Owlowiscious, did Twilight tell you where this book belongs?"

"Hoo?" the small owl hooted.

"Who? You know, Twi… oh…" He chuckled. "Sorry… I keep forgetting… owls say hoo." Snickering to himself, he waddled over to the next bookcase. The pile of books swayed dangerously from the left to the right.

"If I hurry up, I can finish this before Twilight comes back from Pinkie Pie's party. She'll be so proud of me… with all the work I'm taking from her back, she'll be able to focus on her magical studies."

"She can study all she wants, she will still be second best compared to me," a smug voice spoke up.

Spike froze. He knew that voice all too well. With the books still in his hands, he turned around… and saw none other than Trixie sitting on one of the bookcases, wearing a smug grin and an all-new cape that had a creepy pattern of red-glowing eyes on it.

"Y-YOU?" Spike yelled as he pointed at the blue unicorn.

"Surprised to see me? I guess Twilight Sparkle will be surprised, too. I was really hoping I could find her here… but you will have to do."

"What are you up to this time?" Spike angrily asked her, nearly dropping the books. "Are you trying to trick the ponies of Ponyville again? Even Snips and Snail now know better than to believe anything you tell them."

"I'm not here for that," Trixie smiled. "I'm here for… revenge!" Her horn began to shimmer in a dark, purple aura and her whole body began to float up into the air. Trixie laughed as she aimed her horn at the books Spike was carrying… and shot a barrage of bright, colorful energy bullets out of her horn. Every book that was hit by the attack turned into ashes.

"No! The books!" Spike cried. "What are you doing?"

"Simple… Twilight ruined my life, so I'm ruining hers!" Trixie laughed as she aimed for another pile of books.

"Hoo hoo!" Owlowiscious shouted as he flew up and rammed his little body into Trixie's flank like a living cannonball.

"OW! That hurt, you stupid little bird!" Trixie shouted.

"Way to go, Owlowiscious!" Spike cheered. He quickly climbed on top of a bookcase and from there, jumped on top of Trixie's back. "I dunno how you're able to fly like that, with no wings and all, but we won't let you destroy Twilight's books! We're her number one assistants!"

"Hoo hoo!" the little owl agreed.

"Back off, you little pests!" Trixie snarled as she surrounded herself with a barrier of circling, green orbs. "You won't be able to beat me in a hundred years… and neither will Twilight! Not after my new mistress bestowed me the power of DANMAKU! Hahahaha!"

Spike winced as he and Owlowiscious were blasted in a corner of the room. When he looked up, he noticed that the little owl was unconscious.

"This is worse than what she did before…" he muttered. "What she did last time was nothing but lying and tricking other ponies… but this… is downright dangerous! I need to inform Twilight…"

"Tell her the Great and Powerful Trixie is waiting for her challenge… if she dares! Hahaha!"

* * *

There was a cheerful and colorful party held at Sugarcube Corner.

"This is really a great birthday party, Pinkie," Twilight smiled as she and her friends enjoyed the music, the punch and the cupcakes. "I'm having lots of fun today."

"Duh…" Rainbow Dash said sarcastically. "It's Pinkie Pie! ALL of her parties are fun!"

"Hold on your horses there, sugarcubes," Applejack chuckled. "With all that praisin' for Pinkie Pie, let's not forget our true birthday girl."

"She is absolutely right," Rarity nodded. "So, another cheer for the birthday pony!"

"And another song!" Pinkie nodded. "For she's a jolly good Derpy, for she's a jolly good Derpy…"

"Happy birthday!" Twilight cheered.

"Yeah, happy birthday," Rainbow added.

"Happy birthday? Oh, happy birthday, Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy chuckled. "It's not my birthday, Derpy… it's yours!"

"Really?" Derpy Hooves blinked, which made the cross-eyed pegasus pony a really interesting sight. "Oh, yay for me then, I guess. Happy birthday Derpy!"

Pinkie giggled. "Derpy, you're so silly. Oh, I nearly forgot my present for you: There you go!" And she produced a small present with a pink bow.

Derpy opened it. "Muffins!" she smiled. "My favorites! How'd you know?"

The others all giggled.

Suddenly, Spike came running in. "Guys! A crisis! In the library! Magic! Craziness! Hurry!"

"Spike, slow down!" Twilight said. "We can't understand a word you've said."

"Oh no!" Fluttershy gasped. "What happened to poor Owlowiscious?" She carefully took the unconscious owl and put him on a soft pillow.

"It was Trixie!" Spike shouted. "She appeared in the library and started shooting all kinds of crazy magical stuff!"

"Trixie? As in… 'the Great and Powerful Trixie'?" Applejack asked.

Spike nodded. Just then, three other small shapes came running in through the door.

"Rainbow Dash! You need to come!"

"Scootaloo? What the hay is wrong with you guys?" Rainbow asked.

"We wanted to play in our clubhouse," Sweetie Bell sniffled. "And then… and then…"

"Calm down, sweetie… tell your big sister what the problem is and she will take care of it," Rarity said as she petted Sweetie Bell's head.

"It was that giant gryphon!" Apple Bloom shouted. "She smashed our roof… and it almost fell on top of us!"

"A gryphon?" Rainbow Dash groaned. "That can only mean Gilda's back…"

"Well, she said she wanted to meet you," Scootaloo said.

"But that's strange… Gilda is pretty athletic, but she's no giant," Twilight frowned.

"Maybe she worked out at the gym?" Pinkie Pie suggested.

Derpy just took a big bite of Pinkie's birthday present. "Muffiiiiins…" she sighed.

"Well, I'm going over there and give that featherbutt a piece of my mind," Applejack snorted. "And if she thinks she can mess up my little sister's clubhouse, she can taste my right hoof."

"No, Rainbow Dash is gonna teach her a lesson," Scootaloo said.

"Don't forget about Trixie," Spike shouted. "She'll make a mess out of the library."

"Twilight… we know you are the best organizer around here," Rarity said. "What do you suggest we should do?"

"I wonder…" Twilight murmured, tapping her chin with her hoof. "Two troublemakers suddenly return to Ponyville… both of them seem stronger than they were before… and both of them seem intent on seeing us… at least one of us. Don't you think that's a bit odd?"

"You know, it is a little strange," Rarity admitted.

"You think it's a trap, Twilight?" Applejack asked.

Rainbow Dash snorted. "Trap schmap! What's the worst they can do? There's only two of them against the seven of us…"

"Open up, Mister present," Derpy shouted in the background. "I want to be your friieeend!"

Rainbow sweatdropped. "Okay… at least six of us."

"You haven't seen Trixie's new magic…" Spike muttered. "It's really scary…"

"Yeah, and Gilda was strong enough to take our clubhouse apart," Apple Bloom said. "maybe we should ask for some help… maybe Zecora would help us."

"Good idea, and I'll get BigMacintosh if we need some muscle," Applejack nodded.

Twilight raised her hoof. "All right… listen up, girls… we will confront them… but only after I've sent a letter to Princess Celestia."

Fluttershy looked at Owlowiscious who was squirming around on his pillow. "Oh my…" she said in a worried tone of voice. "I hope everything will turn out okay…"


	3. Have a nice fall

Princess Celestia was just about to enjoy lunch, when in mid-air, a scroll appeared within a bursting green flame.

"A message from Twilight Sparkle? At this hour?" she wondered and unrolled the scroll to read it. She was surprised to realize that this was not the usual letter about which lessons in friendship Twilight had learned, but instead a warning about some troublemakers in Ponyville, including a unicorn that somehow had learned some new kind of magic that no one in Equestria had ever heard of before. Following this was a plea for help, should this new sorceress unicorn prove to be more powerful than Twilight Sparkle or her friends could assume.

Princess Celestia lowered the scroll thoughtfully. "According to the letter, she called it Danmaku… Danmaku… it's a long time since I've heard that word…" And without giving her lunch any more thought, the ruler of Equestria rose and went to her sister's quarters.

She knocked against the door. "Luna? We must talk. Something very… disconcerting has occurred."

"Not now, Celestia," came the response from the princess of the moon. "I need to find a solution for this problem…"

"It involves 'Danmaku', Luna!"

Almost at once, the door opened and Luna stared at her sister in astonishment. "Danmaku? You couldn't mean..:"

Celestia nodded. "Yes. I don't know how, but this young unicorn sorceress Twilight Sparkle wrote me about somehow has connections to the sealed-off world of Gensokyo."

At first, Luna was just surprised. Then, something within her brain clicked… and she remembered something… a horrible mistake from the past…

"Oh no…" she whispered with horror. "The answer… the answer to my problem… it was in front of my eyes all the time…"

"Little sister, what do you mean?" Celestia asked with worry.

Luna looked like she was about to experience a nervous breakdown. "B-back in our time… some years before the banishment… I made a terrible mistake… it was after you told me all those old tales of other worlds… including Gensokyo… and I was so curious about other kinds of magic… so I went into the library and did some research… on ancient borders and boundaries and how those borders can be crossed, using portals and gaps… and I believe… I believe I created a portal, when I was by myself, on my moon… leading to another realm… just for a very short instance, and I was able to close it right away."

"I… can't quite follow, Luna," the older sister princess said. "What does that have to do with our current problem?"

"Don't you see? The gap I opened back then, on the moon… it was a portal to Gensokyo! And something must have crept out… didn't you notice? Over the next few months, my feelings of jealousy towards you began to grow… until I was somehow transformed into Nightmare Moon!"

"You mean… the transformation… that wasn't your doing at all?" Celestia wondered.

Luna shook her head. "No. Something… something from the other worlds must have come through the portal… corrupted my feelings… my wishes to be as strong and powerful as you… they were all tainted by that… that beast."

"And now you are afraid that someone opened a portal to Gensokyo once again… and that the beast might come back? But Luna…" Celestia smiled reassuringly. "Even if that was the case, that beast was driven out. Twilight Sparkle and her friends used the Elements of Harmony to turn you back to normal. And you've been your old self ever since. Isn't that the best sign that the beast is forever gone?"

"Maybe…" Luna muttered. "I really hope you're right, sister…"

"Well, at first, we need to deal with the problem or not," Celestia said. "Someone must have opened a portal to Gensokoy, there is no other explanation why Danmaku should appear in this world. Would you care to accompany me, sister? I'd really like to have a word with that young unicorn…"

* * *

Gilda sat on top of the remains of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' clubhouse and smugly looked down when she saw a group of familiar ponies approached her.

"Well, well… looks like the whole gang's here! Sup, Dash?"

"What do you think you're doing, Gilda?" Rainbow Dash shouted up to her former friend. "Do you really think anyone wants to be your friend after you pull something like this? I mean, c'mon! That's a new low for you!"

"I don't care, Dash!" Gilda shouted as she stood up to her full height. "I'm better than any of you now… stronger, bigger… I don't need to be friends with any of you lame ponies. I have better friends now."

The ponies gasped in surprise when they realized just how much Gilda had grown. She was bigger than BigMacintosh… Her beak looked longer, her claws sharper and her whole body was bulging with muscles.

"Whatever happened to you?" Twilight wondered.

"Nothing much… I just found a new pal who realized my coolness and who decided to give me a hand in paying you idiots back for what you did… especially you!" And she pointed her claw at Pinkie Pie. "Humiliating me at that party, in front of everyone…"

"Don't tell me you didn't enjoy the party," Pinkie Pie smiled. "Didn't you see all those balloons and streamers? And the wonderful cake…"

"I don't care about those stupid things!" Gilda roared. "You made me look like an idiot!"

"Sorry to tell you this, Gilda, but… you did a pretty good job on that all by yourself. I told you it was me who prepared all those jokes back then," Rainbow said.

"So you helped her!" Gilda snarled. "I don't care about you anymore, Dash… you're a loser just like them!"

"Hopeless…" Rainbow sighed.

"Don't waste your time with this one," Rarity huffed. "She prefers to make up her own version of her story that fits with her massive ego… instead of using her brains to realize how stupid she's making herself sound."

"I couldn't care less how you think about us, but no one wreaks the clubhouse my little sister and her friends made!" Applejack shouted. "Come down here and I'll give ya a bronco buckin' ya'll never forget!"

"Please… can't we just all get along?" Fluttershy pleaded. "Just say you're sorry, we'll fix up this mess… and we can be friends again. How does that sound, Gilda?" She gave the gryphon an uncertain smile.

"Friends, with you?" Gilda smirked. "I have a better idea… since you decided to come here first and not to my other new pal Trixie…"

"I knew it! They're behind this together!" Spike shouted.

"Just lemme give her a call," Gilda said and whistled. Almost at once, a strange, gleaming gap opened up in the air next to her and Trixie came floating through.

"Ah, my audience has assembled," Trixie smiled. "Are you all ready to witness the Great and Powerful Trixie's best trick yet?"

"Trixie… what we told Gilda goes for you, too," Twilight said. "We never wanted to make you feel bad."

"LIES!" Trixie yelled. "You always knew you were powerful enough to vanquish an Ursa Major, but you deliberately kept it a secret so you could enjoy my humiliation the fullest at the right time!"

"For the last time, it was an Ursa Minor…" Twilight rolled her eyes. "And the reason why I didn't say anything was because I… was uncertain how everyone would react."

"Yeah, unlike OTHERS…" Rainbow Dash glared at Trixie. "Twilight doesn't gloat when it comes to her powers. She doesn't need to show off."

"Enough! I've had enough of your lies!" Trixie shouted.

Gilda chuckled. "You tell 'em, Trix!"

"And since you insist on making fools of us by retelling the same old lies, we will work together to show you the greatest trick… how to make six ponies and one little dragon… DISAPPEAR!" She laughed as she flew up into the air, without the help of any wings. Gilda growled as she jumped down the tree and in front of the six friends (plus Spike).

Twilight swallowed nervously. "Guys… Gilda looks about as big and strong as that manticore we encountered in the Everfree Forest… and I don't think Fluttershy will be able to make her calm down… maybe we really should have brought some help along…"

"Pah, I don't need any help!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "You deal with Gilda while I knock this floaty unicorn down where she belongs." And she dashed off upwards, leaving a trail of rainbow colors behind. "You should have left the skies to the Pegasus ponies, Trixie!" she yelled.

Trixie just snickered as her horn began to glow. And then… a barrage of energy bullets came flying forth, surrounding Rainbow from all sides and then… they split up into showers of even more, smaller bullets.

"H-h-hey!" Rainbow gasped as she tried to dodge them all at once. "N-not so many… I mean, it's not that I couldn't dodge them… but… isn't this a bit overkill?"

"Laugh while you can," Trixie smiled. "Because the Great and Powerful Trixie will have the last laugh."

At the same time, Applejack decided to start the brawl against Gilda with a fast and furious charge. "YEEE-HAAAAW!" she shouted as she ran at the gryphon at full speed.

Gilda roared and tried to swipe the farm pony with her claw, but Applejack swiftly leapt up, landing on Gilda's broad back. "Try to catch me now," she grinned, holding onto the gryphon's fur as she tried to shake her off like a wild bull at a rodeo show. The cowgirl pony then pulled out her lasso, swung it around and prepared to tie it around the wings.

"Oh no you DON'T!" Gilda shouted as she flapped her wings, flew backwards and smashed her whole body against a massive tree standing nearby.

"Oh no! Applejack!" Rarity gasped in shock.

Gilda landed back on the ground, revealing Applejack, who was half-embedded in the tree's splintered trunk. With rolling eyes, she mumbled: "A-anyone get the number of that truck?"

Fluttershy frowned. "Oh, enough is enough..:" she muttered and flew up.

"Uh-oh…" Pinkie Pie gulped. "Looks like she's gonna give Gilda THE STARE!"

"Now listen here, missie!" Fluttershy sternly said as she landed in front of Gilda. "We try to make up with you and you still decide to be a big meanie? I've had it with bullies like you! You should be ashamed of yourself…"

Gilda blinked in surprise when she saw how the usually meek and shy Pegasus pony stared at her. Was this really the same weakling who ran away from her, crying her eyes out? That stare really was… unsettling.

And annoying.

"Get lost, you're bothering me," Gilda grumbled as she gave Fluttershy a flick with her finger. The pink-maned Pegasus forgot all about her stare when she was flung back at her friends, rolling around like a bowling ball.

She came to a stop next to the others, lying on her back. "Sorry… looks like the stare only works on animals and dragons…" she muttered.

She gasped in surprise when suddenly, Rainbow Dash came crashing down to the ground next to her. Her fur and wing feathers looked singed at certain spots. "G-gimme some time to regain my breath…" she gasped. "And I'll show Miss Pointy Hat what I'm really made of…"

"You don't look like you're in any condition of fighting any longer," Rarity murmured.

"All right… let me give it a try…" Twilight said as she stepped forth. She let her horn shine as bright as Trixies.

"Oh, leave this one to me," Trixie grinned as she hovered down in front of Gilda. "I've been waiting for this a long time…"

"Try trick Number 15!" Spike yelled from behind.

"Good idea," Twilight nodded and lowered her head. Her horn emitted several bright shining rings that flew up to Trixie and wrapped themselves around her body and legs.

"A nice little trick," Trixie smiled. "But nothing against the Great and Powerful Trixie's Danmaku!" And with a burst of energy, she broke free, showering the remaining standing ponies with the same bullets she had used against Rainbow Dash.

"Whooaaaahh, all those pretty coloooors…" Pinkie Pie said. „Are making me dizzyyyyy..."

"What are you doing? Duck for cover!" Rarity yelped when one of the bullets singed her mane. "Oh no! My hair!"

"Do something, Twilight!" Spike shouted.

"I'm trying, I'm trying…" Twilight muttered. "Oooooh… what trick could help here? I never learned anything like this from Princess Celestia…"

"Because this magic is not from Equestria," spoke the voice of the princess as she landed in front of her student. Her horn was glowing as bright as the morning sun and projected a shield that made all of Trixie's Danmaku bullets disappear. Luna landed right next to her.

"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!" Twilight shouted with relief. "Boy, am I glad to see you."

"I… it's her…" Trixie stuttered, feeling a bit uncertain. "No one ever told me she'd appear…"

"Aw, she's just another pretty little pony," Gilda grumbled. "I'll take her out…" The massive gryphon leapt at the two princess sisters with outstretched claws… but then was slowed down in mid-air. "H-hey!" she shouted as she flailed her limbs around. "What happened here? Put me down!"

"Interesting how even a powerful gryphon like you can lose her weight when the gravity around her is the same as on the moon," Luna snickered.

"Now, young unicorn..." Celestia said as she stepped in front of Trixie. "Would you tell me how you were able to acquire these… interesting powers?"

Trixie shivered. Like all ponies, she knew the story how one of the two royal sisters was betrayed by the other and then banished on the moon. What if Princess Celestia decided to do the same thing to her?

"Don't worry, my young disciples," came a dark and arrogant voice. "I won't let them harm you." And a cloud of dark smoke began to rise up between Gilda and Trixie… a darkness that they all knew too well.

"Th-that can't be…" Twilight muttered as Nightmare Moon appeared from the smoke. "How can this be? She… she was…" Her eyes darted back and forth between Luna and the wicked mare.

"We were one…" Luna said. She was almost as afraid as Twilight, but didn't show it. "But now you found someone else you could possess… isn't that right, beast of the moon?"

"My, my… looks like you did some reasearch," Nightmare Moon chuckled. "But that doesn't really make a difference… it's true, I found a new host. But… the time I spent in your body affected me as well, princess. I still carry the very same feelings you had in yourself… all the anger, envy, hate…"

"Stop it!" Luna shouted.

"Why deny it? You know it was all true! I was a part of you… you made me into what I am today."

"What is it that you want?" Celestia asked as she protectively stood in front of her younger sister, her young protégé and her friends. She looked at Gilda and Trixie. "Do you know what this evil mare desires? Do you want Equestria to be covered with eternal night?"

"I don't care about stupid old Equestria… not if my new pal Moon can help me get some cooler friends on other worlds," Gilda grinned.

"As long as I can take my revenge, nothing else matters…" Trixie grumbled.

"Eternal night was my goal once, dear princess," Nightmare Moon smiled. "And while it still sounds nice in my ears, it is not my most important goal. My utmost desire is… revenge! On the inhabitants of BOTH Equestria and Gensokyo!"

"Gensokyo? Oh, I know!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "That's the new brand of jelly beans, right?"

Nightmare Moon was not the only one to roll her eye.

"Anyways… the first part of my plan of revenge will involve you, dear ponies of Ponyville," the evil mare then grinned. "And you as well, oh royal sisters. For you… are the most annoying of all the inhabitants of Equestria!"

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow Dash grunted, finally standing up from the ground. "Well, you… you stink!"

"That was the weakest comeback ever, Dash…" Gilda snorted.

"Say… what was that you said about a magic trick, dear Trixie?" Nightmare Moon smiled. "Something about making six ponies and a dragon disappear? I guess we should make it eight ponies… and I will make it happen!"

When her eyes began to glow in a dark red light, Celestia realized that she was up to something. "Quick, everyone behind me!"

"Hahahahaha! That will not save them… neither will it save you!" the dark mare of the moon laughed. "Go forth, you ponies… into lands unknown… lands that are far more cruel and unforgiving than anything you have ever seen in your lives! Enjoy your stay in the land of Gensokyo… because you won't be able to enjoy it for too long!"

And then… the biggest gap she ever created since taking over Yukari's body opened underneath them, pulling Celestia, Luna, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy through and into the darkness…

* * *

It was a quiet spring morning in Gensokyo. The single inhabitant of the Hakurei Shrine was up early and busy sweeping the front yard. When she came past the donation box, she took a glance inside.

Hakurei Reimu sighed. „As usual... nothing..."

She winced when suddenly, a black-and-white clothed witch on a broomstick came zooming out of the clouds and landed right next to her.

"Hey Reimu!" Marisa Kirisame grinned. "Busy brushing out the cobwebs inside the donation box, ze?"

"Very funny…" Reimu muttered. "Any special reason why you're here today?"

"You hurt me, Reimu. Does a girl need a reason to visit a good friend?"

"Well, let me see: Most of the time you come to see me, you either need my help, or you come to inform me that some sort of incident has happened (which I really could do without for this month) or you want to borrow something – which you are probably never going to return. That is, not within the next year."

"Come on… I'm not that bad," Marisa said.

Reimu just looked at her.

"Well okay, maybe there is a reason why I've come," the witch sighed. "Listen, Reimu… did you ever have one of those days where you got out of bed and realized: Man, there's something not right today. Did you never have this feeling that something was… off? I mean, the feeling that something isn't as it's supposed to be, ze?"

Reimu thought about what Marisa said and realized that she was right. Something was different today, but what is it? She couldn't quite put her hoof on it…

Her shrine was the same… Marisa was the same… she was the same… the same red/white miko outfit, the purple fur, the brown mane and tail and the Yin-Yang ball cutie mark on her flank…

Reimu let out a shrill scream which nearly sounded like a whinny. "MARISA!" she shouted. "We're ponies!"

The white-furred pony with the blonde mane looked down at herself… and her eyes widened. "What the… how did that happen? And how come we didn't notice it? How come we acted as if everything was normal?"

"This can't be happening! This isn't right!" Reimu continued to scream.

"You're telling me…" the witch-pony muttered while looking back at her flank. "I've got stars on my butt."

"Soooo strange…" Reimu said as she walked around the front yard, back and forth. Walking on four legs felt… weird. However, it somehow came natural, as if she had done this all her life long. "This might turn out to be the most bizarre incident that has ever befallen Gensokyo," she finally said. "That is, unless we're the only ones affected…"

Just then, a winged pony with a pointy hat came flying overhead, leaving a trail of Danmaku behind and sang cheerfully: "Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up…"

Reimu blinked. "Did… did you see that?"

"Yeah…" Marisa nodded. "Lily White is awfully late with her spring announcement this year… I mean, most of the snow already melted last week…"

"Idiot! She was a flying horse… just as we are!"

"Not quite, we don't have wings," Marisa contradicted. "Say… could this have happened because something is wrong with the Hakurei Border?"

"What?" Reimu asked in surprise.

"Out with it, Reimu!" Marisa smirked, which looked strange to the shrine maiden as it was Marisa's usual smirk on a pony's snout. "Admit it, you slacked off again and didn't pay attention to the border, right?"

"Th-that's silly!" Reimu angrily remarked. "The Hakurei Border is the border between Gensokyo and the human world… why would we be turned into THIS if it's broken?"

"Right, good point…" Marisa muttered. "Well, looks like we need to investigate… hey, sounds like a good excuse to pay a visit to Patchy, don't you agree? I mean, she's bound to have some books in that huge library of hers that might help us find an explanation." She snickered.

"You're just saying that because you want to 'borrow' some books from her, right?" Reimu frowned.

"Maaaaaybe, but does it matter? You want this to be resolved as quickly as possible, don't you?"

Reimu had to admit Marisa was right. If she had the chance, she really didn't want to walk around on four hooves.

"Here we go again…" she groaned. "Another incident, ruining my day… dang, sometimes I wish the solution would just drop out of the sky and into my lap…"

"WHAAAAAAAAAH!" came shrill scream from above. And before Reimu could react, she was buried underneath a purple unicorn pony.

Twilight Sparkle took a deep breath. "Phew… I think my heart stopped… good thing I landed on something soft…"

"Would you get off me?" Reimu growled.

Twilight chuckled in embarrassment and quickly moved aside. "Oh, I'm so sorry… but it's not like I was able to control where I was gonna land. That was some fall…"

"Even though it's not fall yet... it's spring, ze," Marisa giggled.

Reimu rolled her eyes. "That was the worst joke ever, Marisa…" she grumbled as she climbed back to her feet. "Now... who are you and where the heck did you come from?"

"My name is Twilight Sparkle. Me and my friends are not from around here…"

"Your friends?" Marisa asked while looking around. "I don't see anyone except you."

"Oh no," Twilight gasped. "Where could everypony be?"

* * *

"What happened?" Rarity wondered. "Where in Equestria am I?" Confused, she looked around the huge hall she was standing in, the long stairway in front of her and the scarlet walls.

"Ohohohohoh!" Rarity turned her head when high-pitched laughter echoed through the room. "Why, you are in my mansion… and it looks like you came here without any permission. How did you get past my gatekeeper?"

On top of the stairs, Rarity could see a small, pink-furred pony that opened her mouth in a mischievous smile, revealing a sharp pair of fangs… but the most unusual thing about this pony were the wings she had on her back… they weren't feathered, like the usual pegasus wings, nor were they butterfly wings like the ones Twilight had once conjured up for her… those were the wings of a bat.

"I am Remilia Scarlet. Welcome… to the Scarlet Devil Mansion!"


	4. The Library Pony

The morning sun was rising over Youkai Mountain, bathing everything in a golden aura of serenity. The waterfall cascading down from the summit was sparkling in the rays of the sun and created a beautiful rainbow spanning over the river.

Its namesake, Rainbow Dash, was sitting in the crown of a nearby tree and watched the spectacle of nature. "Wow…" she muttered. "This truly isn't Equestria anymore. There are no mountains like this I know of… now if I only could find one of the locals and ask them where I am…"

Suddenly, something zoomed past her, something so incredibly fast that she was only able to see it as a dark blur.

"Whoah!" she shouted in surprise after her eyes stopped spinning. "Who was that? Well, whoever it is, I'm not letting my chance of talking to somepony fly away." She flapped her wings once and sped after the speedy blur.

In no time, she had caught up to the speedster so she was able to look at her from behind. It was a flying pony like her, white coat and raven-black wings, with a small red hat on top of her mane. As far as Rainbow was able to tell at this velocity, her cutie mark was a camera.

"Hey you!" Dash shouted over to the other pony with a grin as she flew side to side with her. "Awesome flying speed. Name's Rainbow Dash… who are you?"

Aya blinked for a moment. Not just because there was someone able to catch up with her but also because there was someone who had obviously not heard of her before. "Aya Shameimaru," she replied.

"Nice to meetcha! Hey, as much as I love flying, can we stop for a moment? I'd like to talk to you."

Aya then smirked. "Only if you can catch me!" she shouted and dashed off at an even greater speed than before.

"Oh, if this is how you wanna play… two can play this game," Rainbow smirked. "There's a reason why they call me Rainbow DASH!" Leaving a trail of colors behind, she flew after the other pony.

The two flyers presented a breath-taking spectacle for any onlookers as they flew around the mountain in circles, over the treetops, through the waterfall and around some clouds. Aya took another look back and saw that Rainbow had almost caught up. "Give it up, kid," she nickered. "I'm the fastest flyer in Gensokyo… no one can catch up to me."

"Is that so? Well… I'll have you know that I am the fastest flyer in Equestria," Dash shouted, flapping her wings even harder. And then, she came close enough that she was able to tap Aya on the head with her hoof. "Tag! You're it!" She giggled.

Finally slowing down, Aya sighed. "Well… guess I met my match today," she said. She then gave the rainbow-maned pegasus a smile. "You've done pretty good, kid. Good flying there."

"Thanks," Rainbow grinned. "But you're pretty good yourself… it's always nice to have some competition. I rarely meet a pegasus pony fast enough for a sweet race like this."

"Oh, but I'm not a pegasus pony," Aya said. "I'm a tengu pony."

Rainbow Dash blinked as she and Aya landed on another treetop. "A… tengu pony?"

"Sure, we live here on Youkai Mountain," Aya nodded. "Don't tell me you haven't heard of us yet."

"Actually no… I haven't," Rainbow shook her head.

"Ooooh, really? So you're new to these parts? How about a little interview then?" She somehow produced a scroll and quill. "I write for the Bunbunmaru Newspaper, and we always like publishing interesting interviews… especially if they're with exciting ponies such as you, Rainbow Dash."

"Yep, it's all true," Dash grinned. "I'm pretty exciting all right."

"Now then… where did you come from, what have you come here for? What's your profession? And do you have any hobbies?"

* * *

"Woo, this is a pretty dark forest," Pinkie Pie giggled as she skipped through the woods. "Reminds me of the day when we went through the Everfree Forest and you guys were spooked by a bunch of silly tree faces, remember?"

"Um… Pinkie… m-maybe we should… I don't know, try to find a way out of here? I don't like this place… it's so dark… and frightening…" Fluttershy shuddered as she slowly walked after her pink, bouncing friend.

"What, just because it's dark?" Pinkie asked in her usual, cheerful manner. "Don't be silly, there's nothing to be afraid of. Just try to giggle…"

"Yes, giggle at the ghosties, I know…" Fluttershy sighed. "But still… shouldn't we try to find the others?"

"I'm sure they're all right," Pinkie smiled as she skipped ahead.

"Well, maybe, but…" Fluttershy muttered as she stopped and looked around the darkness. "What if Nightmare Moon… did something to them… I don't really think a giggle would be enough to stop… her?" She blinked and looked ahead. She couldn't see Pinkie anywhere.

"Oh no!" she gasped. "I must have lost her in the darkness… Pinkie? Pinkie… do you hear me?" But as she said it in her usual, quiet voice that was barely more than a whisper or a squeak, it was doubtful that Pinkie heard her. "I have to catch up with her… but which way did she go… oh no… all these paths look the same… whatever am I going to do…" The meek little pegasus shivered.

Suddenly, everything became even darker than before. It was so dark that Fluttershy was unable to see her own hooves. She nervously gulped. "Is… anyone out there?"

"Teeheeheehee…" a mischievous voice giggled. "I'm right behind you, little pony… riiiiight behind you…"

"P-please s-stop it," Fluttershy squeaked. "Y-you're scaring me…"

"Oh is that sooooo?" the voice giggled… and then something touched Fluttershy's neck.

She yelped in fright and turned around… only to look into the eyes of a pitch-black pony that was floating in front of her… a pitch-black pony with pitch-black wings.

"IT'S NIGHTMARE MOON!" Fluttershy screamed. "AAAAAAAAH!" She she ran off as fast as she could.

The black filly blinked in surprise. "My name isn't Nightmare Moon…" she muttered. "It's Rumia… oh well… I guess I better find her and tell her it was just a harmless prank…" She shrugged and tried to fly after Fluttershy.

And then she flew right into a tree. "OW! Dangit, I can't see in my own darkness…" Rumia whined as she rubbed her swollen snout.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie had left the woods behind her. "See?" she smiled. "The end of the forest and it's much brighter here. No need to be… afraid?" She looked back. "Fluttershy? Where are you? Oh… I guess she had to take a little bathroom break." She then looked forward, to the misty lake lying in front of her.

She leaned forward and carefully touched the surface of the lake with her right hoof. It was frozen. She shuddered. "Whoooo, now THAT gives me the shivers." She giggled at her own joke. "A frozen lake, in the middle of spring? Looks like somepony hasn't done her job… oh well, Pinkie's here to do the job. Too bad I didn't bring my skates…"

"What are skates?" someone asked.

Pinkie looked up and found herself eye to eye with a little filly with azure blue fur and a light blue mane. Instead of pegasus wings, she had some weird wings made out of ice crystals hovering over her back. And for some reason, her cutie mark was a nine surrounded by a circle.

"Hi! Eye'm the strongest!" the little ice pony smiled.

"Hi! I like parties!" Pinkie Pie smiled back. "Oh, and I'm Pinkie Pie."

"My name's Cirno," the filly said as she landed on the ice in front of her. "Some ponies seem to think it's baka… they're so silly…" she giggled.

"You don't know what ice skates are?" Pinkie then asked her. "They're fun. You use them to glide across the ice."

"Oh! I can do that without those," Cirno said. "See?" And she gracefully skidded across the frozen lake… until she slipped and fell right on her little nose. "Oof… a little miscalculation on my part… but no worries, I know I can do better. Eye'm so smart!"

„Eye'm sure... I mean, I'm sure you are," Pinkie snickered. "Hey, have you seen my friends?"

"My friends?" Cirno looked up at her and shook her head. "Nope, Mystia's selling some of her grilled lamprey in the human village, Wriggle is hanging out at Yuka's and Rumia…"

"No, I'm talking about MY friends," Pinkie corrected her.

"Oh… I knew that," Cirno quickly said. "Who are you friends?"

"Weeeell… there's Twilight, who's all smart and knows a lot about books and stuff, and Rainbow Dash… she's a fast one, let me tell you… and Applejack, she's all about apples… and let's not forget about Fluttershy, she is…"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Actually… she's right over there," Pinkie Pie smiled as she watched how her friend came running out of the forest. "Hey Fluttershy, watch out for the…"

Both Cirno and Pinkie winced when the yellow pegasus slipped and fell onto the hard, frozen surface of the lake.

"Ice…" Pinkie muttered. "Oh never mind, looks like you found out by yourself."

A black winged filly with a red ribbon in her blonde mane then came flying out of the forest. "Sorry I scared you," she shouted. "But that's what I do."

"Hi Rumia," Cirno grinned. "Have you met my new friends? This here's Pinkie Pie and she's looking for her other friends."

"Yeah, I mean, I don't really know this place so I don't know where to look for them in the first place," Pinkie said.

"Sure we'll help you," Rumia smiled. "I like to play pranks, but I can also be helpful. Let's give them a hoof, shall we, Cirno?"

"It's Team Nineball Operation: Find Pinkie Pie's friends!" the ice pony cheered.

"They're so cute," Pinkie smiled as she watched the two younger fillies clap their hooves together. She looked over to where Fluttershy was climbing back to her feet. "They remind you of anypony?"

"A little, I guess," Fluttershy nodded. "But I wonder how Apple Bloom and her friends are holding up back at home, without us…"

* * *

A purple-furred unicorn was sitting in her extensive library, using the magic of her horn to flip the pages of the book in front of her.

Patchouli Knowledge frowned. "I don't know… I really don't know what it is… but something is wrong. I can't tell what it is… I've been searching through my books again and again, but I haven't found anything. Maybe in that other book… where was it again? KOAKUMA!"

"It's over here!" shouted a smiling young dragon girl with red scales and little black wings.

"Thank you," Patchouli nodded to her assistant, who put the book in front of her.

"Do you need anything else, mistress?" Koakuma asked.

Patchouli wanted to answer, but a sudden coughing fit stopped her. "W-well… I guess a cup of tea would be nice."

"I'll make some right away, mistress!" the little dragon shouted as she ran off.

The unicorn sighed. "It's no use… maybe I should ask Remi…" She slowly walked out of the library and down a long corridor, until she reached the grand salon of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. She wanted to knock, but then a grey pony in a maid's outfit opened. Her cutie mark was that of a pocketwatch.

"I'm sorry, Miss Patchouli… but Lady Remilia requested to be left alone for the evening. She has a special guest in her room that needs to be… taken care of."

Patchouli rolled her eyes. "Typical Remilia, she and her games…" she murmured. "Well, tell her that after she's finished, I need to talk to her about something important."

She turned around and walked back to the library. "Maybe I'm really too worried," she murmured. "I'm a bit tired, too… that cleaning up after Marisa's last visit was sure tiresome… and I can't always ask upon Sakuya to do all of my chores. Koakuma was a big help though…" She sighed. "Oh well, as long as Marisa takes her time until she visits me again…"

She closed the door behind her, turned around… and blinked in confusion when she saw Reimu and Marisa standing in front of her, accompanied by a pony she had never seen before.

"Sorry, Patchy," Marisa grinned. "Taking the main entrance would have meant we would have to confront Meiling, then Sakuya… so we thought we'd skip all that and just enter through your library window, ze."

Patchouli groaned. "Please, Marisa… I'm really not in the mood for one of your visits. KOAKUMA? Where is she? Why did she allow you to come in?"

"Well, we didn't exactly ask for permission…" the unknown pony said. "And I'm horribly sorry. See, I told you just climbing through the window was a bad idea," she hissed.

Marisa waved her off with a hoof. "Ah, that's okay. I do it all the time."

"Patchouli, we need to talk… and I mean, right now!" Reimu sternly said. "Something serious is going on and we need to find out how this could have happened."

"How… WHAT could have happened, exactly?" Patchouli asked.

"Well, take a good look at us and think for yourself," Reimu grunted.

Patchouli scratched her head. "I give up," she finally said. "Did Marisa buy a new hat or what? Oh, forget it… Marisa never buys stuff. She only steals."

"Hey!" the witch shouted in annoyance.

"We're PONIES, okay? Or do you honestly want to tell me you had that tail yesterday?" Reimu asked.

"I…" Patchouli wanted to say no, but then she thought about it. She had the feeling something was off. And no matter through how many books she searched, she had been unable to find out what it was. Maybe… it was because she… along with everyone else… was blinded to the truth?

The magician unicorn looked back at her tail, her flank with the colorful crystal cutie mark. "Are you saying… this is not normal?"

"OF COURSE it isn't!" Reimu shouted. "Marisa and I are humans! You're a magician youkai! Koakuma is…"

"Please, calm down," Twilight said. "I'm sure we can figure this out… especially with this magnificant library…" She couldn't stop looking around. Resisting the temptation to just read one book after the other was very hard for her.

"Who are you?" Patchouli asked the other unicorn.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle," she introduced herself. "As far as I can tell, I'm not from this world… what do you call it… Gensokyo?"

"Have you been turned into a pony, too?" Patchouli wondered.

"What? No! I've been a unicorn pony for all my life," Twilight said.

"Now I'm curious…" Patchouli muttered. "A pony resident from another world comes to Gensokyo, then you say that it's not normal for us to be ponies… and yet everyone else, myself included, remembers having always been a pony. Maybe this has to do with… the border."

"But the Hakurei border is intact," Reimu insisted.

"Yes… but maybe… a different border…" Patchouli said. "Reimu… how fast can you contact Yukari? This is her field of expertise."

"Yukari? Uh… I dunno," the shrine pony shrugged. "Usually she's the one who contacts me. Thinking about it, it's been a long time since I've seen her."

"Well, then we need to do some research on our own," Patchouli said. "We need to find the right book… Koakuma!" She looked to the door of the backroom, which was Koakuma's resting place and the place where she always prepared the meals and beverages for her mistress.

There was no response, however.

"KOAKUMA!" Patchouli shouted, even louder.

This time, there was a response. "Yaaaaaaaaah! Leave me alooooone!" a purple-scaled dragon boy shouted as he suddenly came running out of the backroom.

"Spike?" Twilight wondered.

Koakuma came flying after him, giggling as she shouted: "Come back here cutie! I just wanna give you another smoochie!"

"Twilight! Get her away from me!" Spike shouted as he hid behind her.

"Come out come out, wherever you are," Koakuma giggled. The dragon girl pushed away Twilight's tail.

"I'm sure she won't bite you, Spike," Twilight chuckled. "But I'm very glad to see you're okay… have you seen the others?"

Spike shook his head. "No, this crazy girl is the first one I've seen after waking up in that closet back there."

"Aw, little Koa found a boyfriend?" Marisa snickered.

"A boyfriend that's not even her species!" Reimu shouted. "Koakuma is supposed to be a little devil. Patchouli… you have to tell everyone that this isn't how things are supposed to be. Start with Remilia!"

"I don't know, Reimu," Patchouli frowned. "If everyone remembers being a pony… do you honestly think telling them otherwise would be a wise thing to do? Besides, Remilia is acting a bit… strange this morning. Ever since that visitor showed up in the mansion…"

"A visitor?" Twilight asked. "Could that be…" She began to run to the door, carrying Spike with her, but Patchouli closed it in front of her with her magic.

"I don't think that's a good idea," she said. "Remilia can get quite moody when she's interrupted."

"But that might be one of my friends in there," Twilight shouted as she used her own magic to push against Patchouli's. "I have to know if they're all fine, and no moody pony is going to stop me."

Patchouli gasped when Twilights magic overpowered her own and slammed the door open. "No, you don't understand…" she shouted after the other unicorn. "Remilia is not a normal pony… aw dang…"

Sakuya was surprised when yet another pony, this one unknown to her, wanted to barge into her mistress' room. "Hey! You can't go in there! How did you get in anyways? Leave, now!"

"Um… I don't think we should be worried," Spike said. "She's just a maid… she's not even a unicorn."

"Listen, I don't want any trouble," Twilight said. "But I believe one of my friends is in there and I…"

"I believe I made myself clear," Sakuya frowned. "No trespassing! Now leave before I make you leave!"

Twilight frowned. "Not until I've seen…"

"Fine," Sakuya whispered. "You brought this upon yourself…" Suddenly, there was a flash… and the maid pony was gone.

"What the…?" Spike rubbed his eyes. "Where did she go?"

"Behind you," Sakuya said. Twilight spun around… but by the time she was facing her opponent again, a broad fan of at least ten knives had appeared in the air above Sakuya.

Twilight gulped. "Oh boy… this doesn't look good…"

"H-how does she do that?" Spike stuttered. "She's no unicorn."

"Hey, Sakuya!" Marisa shouted as she suddenly dashed in-between the maid and the unicorn. "Just leave the girl alone, ze. We just wanna talk to Remilia."

"I've had it with you breaking into this mansion with no invitation, Marisa," Sakuya grumbled. "This is enough! Leave and don't come back unless invited!"

"If you wanna do this the hard way… we'll settle this in an old-fashioned DANMAKU fight!" Marisa shouted as she jumped up on her broom, balancing on it like it was the easiest thing in the world.

Sakuya's eyes flashed and the knives were hurled in Marisa's direction. The witch responded with a shower of bright stars and lasers.

Twilight yelped as she jumped under a table for cover, taking Spike with her. "This is crazy!" she yelled. "Those two are gonna kill each other!"

"No, they won't," Reimu said as she appeared under the table as well. "This is how we always settle our differences… I can really tell that you're new to this world."

"But… but THIS?" Twilight gasped. "This is crazy… this is MADNESS!"

"Madness?" Reimu smirked. "This. Is. GENSOKYOOO!"

"Now what is this rabble out here?" came a high-pitched voice as the door to the salon was opened. Remilia Scarlet came out in all her vampire-pony glory. "Sakuya, I've told you I don't wanna be disturbed."

"I'm sorry, mistress," the maid bowed her head. "I was about to show them the way out."

"You again, Marisa?" Remilia huffed. "And Reimu? You simply have no manners… disturbing a lady while she has tea with a guest…"

"Cut the crap, Remilia!" Reimu growled. "I don't have time for this." She jumped in front of the surprised vampire. "Twilight, run in!"

Twilight nodded and quickly galopped into the salon. She gasped. "RARITY!"

"Why do you seem so surprised, dear Twilight?" Rarity asked as she was standing at a small table, sipping from a cup. "Can't a lady enjoy a nice cup of tea with her generous host? She is quite the sophisticated lady… like myself," she smiled. "Have you seen the tapestries, darling? Aren't they just lovely?"

"But… I thought… aren't you in danger?" Twilight stuttered.

"Oh no, what would you make believe such a thing," Rarity smiled.

"Just because I'm a vampire doesn't mean I don't have any manners," Remilia smiled as she walked past a stunned Reimu and at Rarity's side. "So this is one of the friends you told me about, Miss Rarity?"

"Oh yes, mylady, this is my very good friend Twilight Sparkle. Twilight, I'd like to introduce you to Lady Remilia Scarlet, owner of this fabulous mansion."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Remilia smiled.

Twilight was feeling dizzy. "I think… I need to sit down for a moment…" she murmured.

"Welcome to Gensokyo, Twilight," Marisa grinned. "A place that never gets boring!"

* * *

"Well… I dunno where the heck I am, but this sure ain't Sweet Apple Acres… and this is certainly no apple tree," Applejack muttered to herself as she was looking up at the giant cherry blossom tree growing in front of her.

When she heard the scraping of metal behind her, she turned around her head.

"You do not look dead… so you do not belong here," said the green pony with the grey mane. A strange, ghost-like bubble was twirling around her body and in her mouth, she was holding a sword. "Who are you and what is your business in Hakugyokurou, stranger?" Youmu Konpaku asked.


	5. Apples in Hakugyokurou

„Now you wait just one dang minute," Applejack frowned. "What gives you the idea that I'd be dead?"

"This is the realm of the dead," Youmu said as she slowly approached the apple farmer. "If you're alive, you don't belong here."

"Okay… that sounds mighty weird and all… but how come you're here, then?"

Youmu smiled. "I am a half-ghost," she said, nodding towards the ghostly bubble that was spinning around her body.

Applejack blinked. "What in the hay?" she murmured. "What crazy place is this? Where did that rotten apple Nightmare Moon send me to?"

"Oh, I'll gladly help you return…"

Applejack looked at the ghost girl. "For honest?"

"Yes… after I'll PUNISH YOU FOR TRESPASSING!" the gray-maned pony yelled as she swung around her blade and leapt at the surprised Applejack.

"WHOA!" Applejack gasped as she stumbled out of the way. The ghost-pony's sword nearly missed her cowboy hat. "HAY! You damage my hat and you and I are gonna have a problem, missy!"

"Stop talking and fight me!" Youmu shouted as she dashed past her opponent at an astounding speed. Applejack had barely the time to compare her speed to that of Rainbow Dash, when she realized that the colorful trail of light Youmu had left behind in her path was dissolving into multiple, colorful particles… particles she had seen before.

"Oh dangnabbit, not those schmancyfancy paintballs again…" she gasped as she leapt left and right to dodge the incoming swarm of danmaku bullets. All the dodging nearly made her forget about her opponent.

Seeing something fast approaching her from behind, she did the same thing she did every time Rainbow used the very same speed to prank her with a surprise tackle from behind:

She used her hindlegs to kick the incoming pony with all the power she could muster.

For Youmu, it felt as if she was flying headfirst into a solid brick wall. With a groan, she sunk down to the ground, a dark hoofprint clearly visible on her face.

"If you wanna surprise one of the apple family from behind, you better be prepared for a buckin'!" the farmer filly grinned.

Youmu gritted her teeth as she used her front hooves to slowly push herself back up. "Y-you… haven't won yet…"

"You want some more?" Applejack smiled. "Fine with me…" From somewhere, she produced two red apples, threw them up into the air and used her hindlegs to forcefully kick them at Youmu.

One twirl of the ghost mare's blade, and each of the apples was sliced into two halves that harmlessly fell to the ground. "Please…" Youmu grumbled. "You want to beat me using fruit? You took me by surprise earlier, but this is just ridiculous… start flying already! Start using Danmaku!"

"Oh for Pete's sake…" Applejack sighed. "Are ya blind or can't ya see that ah'm not a Pegasus?"

"Are you mocking me?" Youmu growled. "I'll teach you not to make fun of the gardener of Hakugyokurou…" And with those words, she rose up into the air, in front of a bewildered Applejack.

Youmu just wanted to prepare herself to use one of her spellcards… when she heard an all-too familiar voice next to her shout out: "Oooooooh, Apples! How yummy! Are those for me? How thoughtful of you, Youmu!"

Youmu shook her head in confusion and looked down at the ground, where she saw her mistress, Yuyuko Saigyouji, princess of Hakugyokurou, gobbling up the apple slices that were strewn across the lawn.

Applejack was even more confused than Youmu. She had no idea where this new pony had come from. She took a closer look at her… light blue fur, pink mane and a strange cap with a swirly, red symbol on its front… the very same symbol that was her cutie mark, in fact.

"Um… actually, those are mine…" she spoke up.

"You brought those here?" Yuyuko smiled as she floated up and right next to Applejack, surprising the farm girl. "Oh, those are absolutely DELICIOUS! It's been a long time since I've had some apples… good food is sooooo hard to come by here in the Netherworld… do you have any more?"

"Ah… ah'm sure I have one of two under my hat," Applejack muttered. "Beg yer pardon… but who ARE you?"

"Oh, forgive me," Yuyuko giggled as she floated a bit back and gave the earth pony a formal bow in mid-air. "My name is Yuyuko Saigyouji… I am the ghost princess of Hakugyokurou, the shrine in the Netherworlds. And what's your name?"

"Uh… name's Applejack… did you say g-ghost?" She nervously gulped as she looked over to where Youmu was lowering herself down to the ground. "So that means… what that sword-swinging filly told me is true? This is… the afterlife?"

"I guess you could say that," Yuyuko smiled with a nod.

Now sweat was pouring down the cowgirl's mane. "S-so… maybe ah AM dead, after all? Oh Celestia… Nightmare Moon killed us all, didn't she?"

"Nightmare Moon?" Yuyuko tilted her head sideways. "Interesting… but let me assure you, you are NOT dead! Not at all, dear!"

Applejack sighed with relief.

"If you listened, that's why I was fighting you in the first place," Youmu grumbled. "Stupid earth pony…"

"Hush, Youmu," the ghost princess scolded her gardener. "She is our guest. Now, why don't you come inside, dear, and tell me where you're from… and while we're talking, maybe you could give what apples you have left to Youmu and she'll prepare us a lovely apple pie!"

"Um, Yuyuko-sama… you're drooling again…" Youmu sighed.

"Oh?" Yuyuko giggled as she wiped her muzzle. "Teehee. I guess I did."

Applejack refrained from rolling her eyes. To her, this ghost princess seemed like a mix between Princess Celestia and Pinkie Pie…

* * *

Two pegasi were sitting on a cloud that was drifting past Youkai Mountain. The black-winged one was busy writing down what the one with the rainbow-colored mane had just told her.

"Amazing!" Aya said. "So all it took to make that dragon leave was some stern talking?"

"Yeah, Fluttershy is awesome like that," Rainbow Dash grinned. "I never thought it possible back then, but there's more to that scared filly than meets the eye."

"This is great!" Aya smiled. "This is more than enough material for Bunbunmaru's special adventure edition… you've been a great help, Rainbow Dash."

"No problem," Dash smiled. "But as mush as I'd love hanging out with you some more, I really should start searching for my friends…" She flapped her wings and flew up into the air.

"Wait!" Aya shouted as she flew after her. "Maybe I can help you. I know a lot of ponies… and I know this place better than you do."

"Oh yeah," Dash admitted. "There's that, too… well, I guess I could use some help."

"Then it's settled!" Aya smiled. "Let me get my assistant and we'll be off." She turned around and took a nosedive to the river down below.

"Assistant?" Dash wondered. "Such as a dragon assistant like Spike?"

But when she followed Aya and landed next to her at the riverside, she noticed that the assistant the reporter had been talking about was another pony, white with a white mane.

"Momiji!" Aya shouted, surprising the other tengu. "Stop whatever you're doing and follow me… we have ponies to find!"

"Huh? But Aya…" Momiji protested. "I'm on a break… and Nitori wanted to meet me for a game of Shogi…"

"You can play Shogi anytime," Aya insisted. "But now a friend needs our help. Momiji, meet Rainbow Dash! Rainbow… this is my assistant Momiji."

"I'm actually a mountain patrol for our chief…" Momiji muttered. "But yeah, I do help Aya with her job every now and then. She can be kinda pushy about it…"

"What was that?" Aya snapped.

The other tengu pony winced. "N-nothing, Aya!"

Satisfied, the reporter nodded. "Good! Well, get started by asking around Youkai Mountain if they have seen Rainbow's friends."

Momiji sighed. "Do I have to?"

"You don't have to push her if she doesn't want to, Aya," Rainbow Dash spoke up. "I mean, I'd appreciate the help, but…"

"You are looking for your friends?" another voice spoke up. Rainbow blinked. That sounded like it was coming from… the water?

"Oh, there you are, Nitori," Momiji smiled.

She looked at the river and was surprised to see that a pony's head had broken through the surface. She was even more surprised when she realized that this pony didn't have a normal body with four legs… instead of hind legs, she had a long tail with fins.

"What's the matter?" Nitori asked. "Never seen a kappa before?"

"Buh… but… wha… what?" was Rainbow's only response as she pointed at her with a shaking hoof.

"Rainbow's not from around here," Aya explained. "She didn't know what a tengu is either." She turned to face the pegasus. "Nitori is a kappa, a sea-pony," she explained. "She lives in the river and has the power to control water."

"I'm also a genius mechanic," Nitori said as she revealed her cutie mark, which was a wrench crossed with a cucumber. "And I simply loooove cucumber… especially cucumber-flavored beer." She grinned.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. All of this was a bit much for her to take in. "Look… I'll just start searching from the air while you ask around the people you know, okay Aya?"

"Why don't you start your search at the Moriya Shrine?" Nitori suggested. "You could ask the shrine maiden… also, it tends to attract a lot of interesting people."

"Well… I guess that's as good as any place to start my search," Rainbow shrugged. "Where is this shrine?"

"It's on top of Youkai Mountain," Nitori said. "Should be easy for a flyer like you to reach it… just be careful in case any Yokai assaults you with danmaku… do you have any spellcards?"

"What's… a spellcard?" Rainbow wondered.

The tengus and the kappa looked at her. Aya sighed. "Oh boy… when you said you're not from here, you weren't kidding…"

* * *

"Please honey, can we just…"

"NUCLEAR FUSION!"

"Listen, I'm sure we can talk this out if you just…"

"NUCLEAR EXCURSION!"

"But if you'd just let me help you, dear…"

"UNCONTAINABLE NUCLEAR REACTION!"

Celestia gritted her teeth when she twisted her body to fly in-between two of the enormous sun-like fireballs that were coming at her. Her eyes were on the only other occupant of the giant cave she had appeared in several minutes ago. It was a female pony with a green coat, a brown mane and huge, black wings. Her right hindleg was encased by a solid, grey substance and on her right arm, there was a strange, long device that was reminiscent of a cannon. And her cutie mark… Well, it was a symbol unknown to most inhabitants of Equestria, but Celestia knew what it was: It was a symbol for radioactivity.

Celestia began to sweat under the heat coming from the Hell of Blazing Fires. She wished she had studied the history of Gensokyo a bit more… what could have happened to this place to bring the destructive power of nuclear fusion here? And this mare apparently was able to control it…

"What you are doing is dangerous, young one," Celestia tried again to appeal to the winged pony. "I can feel that you are still learning to control your powers… and this power is growing increasingly unstable within you… if you just let me…"

"Shut up, sun pony!" Utsuho Reiuji yelled. "I'm gonna prove to everypony that nuclear power is superior to solar power in every way imaginable! MEGA FLARE!"

Celestia managed to sweatdrop while dodging another swarm of miniature suns… and not just because of the dreadful heat. "She's been like this ever since I mentioned to her that I'm in control of the sun in my country…" she muttered. "I need to restrain her…"

She winced when a ray of heat shot right past her left ear. "Somehow… Too bad my powers are limited in this world… without the Equestrian sun… and deep below the surface, in the vicinity of this reactor…"

The Yatagarasu pony laughed. "I'll show you! I'll show everypony that nuclear fusion is always better… and stronger!" She then giggled to herself. "I can't wait to tell Rin and Satori-sama that I defeated the sun… they'll be so proud of me…"

And for the first time in her encounter with Utsuho, Celestia started to suspect that this pony was not quite right in the head…

She gulped when the heat inside the cavern increased even more. Utsuho raised the arm with the cannon up into the air… and behind her, the largest of the sun-imitations Celestia had yet seen came descending upon her. "You want a sun? THIS is a sun!"

From everywhere in the cave, warning klaxons began to sound, accompanied by a loud 'WARNING! WARNING!'

"What idiot had the glorious idea of putting this girl in control of a dangerous, hazardous and critical place such as a nuclear reactor?" Celestia grumbled to herself.

* * *

In the Moriya Shrine, sky goddess Kanako Yasaka suddenly felt the urge to sneeze.


	6. Freezing Frogs

Twilight stood in the Scarlet Devil Mansion's salon, watching her friend and a pony who was, according to Reimu, a vampire, chatting while drinking tea.

"Why, this taste is simply divine, Lady Scarlet," Rarity smiled. "You just have to tell me the name of brand."

Remilia chuckled. "Well, I'm glad you like it. Sakuya always prepares the tea, but it's mixed after an old family recipe. In addition to the tea leaves, you add a quarter cup of the most delicious red bl…"

"We REALLY have more important things to talk about!" Reimu intervened, putting her hoof on the table. "Something weird is going on and we need to get to the bottom of it."

"Whatever do you mean, Reimu?" Remilia asked. "As far as I am concerned, everything is perfectly fine. It is a nice day, we have some pleasant guests…"

"BUT WE ARE PO…" Reimu shouted, just before Marisa silenced her by shoving her hoof in her face.

"What Reimu wanted to say is that we are certain that another incident has happened that needs to be resolved, ze."

"Oh… in that case, I won't stop you," Remilia shrugged. "After all, you are the resident incident-solver, aren't you Reimu?"

"You could be a bit more concerned," Reimu muttered.

"Do I have a reason to?" Remilia asked. "Tell me all about it and I see if there's the need of me being involved."

Reimu wanted to open her mouth, but then caught a glimpse of Patchouli. The unicorn slowly shook her head. Gritting her teeth, Reimu lowered her head. Patchouli was right… no one could tell how Remilia would act if she found out that everything around them was a lie. And as an ageless, powerful vampire, she was indeed a loose cannon. Even though Patchouli was her friend, there was no telling if she'd act rational or not. And Reimu didn't even want to think about how Flandre would react… Still, something needed to be done.

Patchouli seemed to agree, since she stood up, cleared her throat and said: "Miss Sparkle… you told me you had a library of your own? Would you be interested to take a look at what my own has to offer?"

A flash of excitement was clearly visible on Twilight's face. She was always eager to learn more, and this new, unknown world certainly had a lot to offer that was unknown to Equestrian scholars. Also, she had seen Patchouli's library and wished nothing more than to bury herself in a pile of books she could study. Still, she hesintantly looked at Rarity and said: "Um… I don't know if there's time… we still don't know anything about our other friends and…"

"I wouldn't worry too much, darling," Rarity smiled. "Rainbow Dash and Applejack certainly can look out for themselves."

Of course Twilight thought the same. But she really couldn't say the same about Fluttershy and Pinkie… especially not after she had seen for herself how violent and dangerous this world could be.

Patchouli put a hoof on her shoulder. "Please come along… there is something important I need to ask you."

Finally Twilight got the hint and nodded. "Rarity, could you wait for a couple of minutes?"

Rarity smiled. "Of course, Twilight. Take your time, I couldn't be in better company."

Reimu turned to Marisa and whispered to her: "Keep a close look on Remilia… we might be on good terms at the moment, but she's still a vampire… and that unicorn girl seems pretty naïve to me…"

The witch nodded, and Reimu followed Twilight and Patchouli into the library, while Marisa and Rarit stayed behind with Remilia and her maid-mare.

Twilight gazed up at the countless rows of bookshelves. "Wow…" she whispered. "There are so many books… I don't even know where to start."

She was startled when Patchouli slammed the door shut behind herself and Reimu. "Listen, Miss Sparkle… I said I wanted to show you the library so I could speak with you in private. If Gensokyo was truly victim to such an extensive change, we need to keep it a secret as long as possible. Everyone believes herself to have been a pony all her life… imagine what happens if they realize that it was a lie."

"Confusion… panic… chaos…" Reimu muttered.

"Wait a minute," Twilight said. "Does that mean you remember the original reality after all? I thought Marisa and Reimu were the only ones…"

"I don't," Patchouli said. "But I had the feeling something was not right… besides, I'm not a fool. Reimu is the guardian of the Hakurei Border… the incidents she resolves are usually disasters and events that effect all of Gensokyo. If she says that something is not right, it would be foalish not to listen to her."

"If that's the case, why do we have to keep it a secret?" Twilight wondered. "If we can just tell everypony that Reimu knows…"

Reimu sighed. "Are you dense? Do you honestly think the others will believe us just like that if their memories tell them otherwise? Besides, this is Gensokyo… basically everyone around here does and believes whatever they want."

"I… don't understand," Twilight muttered. "In Equestria… whenever something happens that endangers us all, they KNOW they've got to listen to whatever Princess Celestia says…"

"As Marisa put it," Reimu grumbled, crossing her forehooves in an unpony-like manner. "Welcome to Gensokyo!"

Twilight sighed. "I guess I really have to learn a lot more about this place."

"That would be for the best," Patchouli nodded. "I can give you some information if you like. Do you have any questions?"

"Well, there's one thing I've been wondering ever since I came here," Twilight replied, taking a deep breath. "How… how come everypony is so AGGRESSIVE? Whenever there's a problem, ponies seem to resort to attacking those they have a problem with. Have they never heard of peacefully negotiating a problem?"

Reimu and Patchouli exchanged a quick glance. "Well… it's really been like this as far as I can remember," Reimu said. "I don't have a problem with it… if somepony goes on my nerves, I'll just barrage them with danmaku."

"Dan… danmaku?" Twilight asked. "What is that?"

"Some people also like the term 'bullet hell'," Patchouli exlained. She raised her forehooves and lit up her horn. A small cloud of colorful sparkles were released from the tip and spread through the library. "It's something that comes naturally to every Youkai in Gensokyo… only very few common earth ponies like Marisa and Reimu are able to use it. Marisa because she's a witch and Reimu because she's a miko, a shrine maiden."

"Some ponies even use danmaku as a way to say 'hello'," Reimu shrugged. "It's annoying, but usually I just shoot them until they leave me the heck alone."

"But… but that's dangerous!" Twilight shouted. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Those spells could kill others!" She was even more shocked when Reimu snickered as a reply.

"You have no idea, have you? No, of course not… Those who are skilled in danmaku are also extremely resilient against it. Hit a Youkai with dozens of bullets and it's not half tired yet. To successfully win a danmaku battle, you need to be patient because it takes a LOT of danmaku showers until your opponent is defeated."

"And even then, you wouldn't need to worry about her health," Patchouli added. "Such a fight takes a lot out of you and you'll be exhausted when you lose, but as long as your opponent doesn't plan on killing you, you'll be safe."

"K… kill you?" Twilight stuttered. She never even thought that someone would be willing to do that. The very idea… it was unheard of.

"Relax, there may be carnivorous Youkai out there, but once you beat them in a danmaku fight, chances are high that they are gonna respect your strength and leave you alone. There aren't too many that want to kill others just for the sake of killing," Reimu explained.

By now, Twilight had a massive headache. "I… don't know if I will ever get used to this," she sighed. "I mean, up to now it's just being me and my friends in Ponyville, my letters to the princess about friendship… well okay, we were confronted with a couple dangerous creatures… and she trusts us enough to send us on a mission to make a dragon leave his sleeping place… and I guess we DID use the Elements of Harmony to save Equestria…"

Reimu blinked. "Um, Twilight? You're rambling."

„I am?" the purple unicorn asked. "Oh… I guess I did… sorry, my friends have told me I tend to do that when something irritates me."

"That's okay," Patchouli smiled. "Reimu does the same thing when she's irritated."

"I'm not that bad," Reimu frowned. "Anyways… what are we gonna do now? I know you want to find your friends, but what after that?"

"I… I don't know," Twilight said. "I don't even know how I got here. All I remember is that we faced Nightmare Moon and this huge… gap opened up beneath our feet."

Reimu and Patchouli exchanged another quick glance. "A… gap, you say?" Patchouli asked. Twilight nodded.

"And… this gap doesn't happen to have spooky red eyes within? And little bows attached to both ends?"

"Um… it happened really fast so I'm not sure about the bows… but yes, I think I saw those eyes in there," Twilight nodded.

Reimu sighed. "Yukari…"

"Looks like it," Patchouli nodded.

"What do you mean? Are you saying you've seen such portals before? So you do know Nightmare Moon?"

"I know nothing about this 'Nightmare Moon' you keep mentioning," Patchouli said. "But I do know that there is only one being in all of Gensokyo that has the ability to create such portals. Yukari, the Youkai of Boundaries!"

* * *

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were following their new filly friends along the lakeshore. Pinkie was as energetic as ever as she bounced around them, never stopping talking.

"And Twilight was all 'GASP! A Manticore!' and the Manticore went all 'GWRAAAAARRRRH!' and Applejack rushed in and rode it like a horse – which is pretty weird now that I think about it, since she's a pony – and then Rainbow Dash came in and went ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM… but then Fluttershy stepped in and stopped us and calmed the Manticore so we could see that there was this icky old thorn sticking in his paw… so she pulled it out and it became nice again! Isn't that the most exciting story ever? Well, except for that time when I ran into Cirno and Fluttershy slipped on the lake…"

"Wow!" Cirno shouted as she hovered in front of Fluttershy's face. "I never met a Manticore before, but it sounds really frightening… and you just walked up to him with no fear at all? You must be very strong!"

"Oh no," Fluttershy blushed. "I'm really not strong… I'm not very brave either… I think I would never have set foot into the Everfree Forest without my friends at my side…"

"But you weren't afraid of that Manticore, were you?" Rumia asked, no less enthusiastic than the ice pony. "And you have wings… don't you have any spellcards? Or any other cool powers?"

"Well, she has the STARE!" Pinkie spoke up.

Cirno was about to ask something… when suddenly, she saw something green hopping in the grass.

"A frog!" she shouted. She flew to the ground and crouched down next to the green amphibian. "I like frogs!"

Fluttershy chuckled when she saw how excited the young filly was. "Oh yes, frogs are cute animals, aren't they? Some ponies say they are slimy and disgusting, but I don't think so. I think every animal has its charm." She smiled.

"Oh, I'm so gonna freeze and shatter this little guy!" Cirno grinned.

Fluttershy's smile froze and turned into a glare of disbelief. "You… you WHAT?"

"Yeah, this is my hobby," Cirno nodded. "Freezing frogs and shattering them afterwards. It's fun! You wanna try it, too?"

She squeaked when Fluttershy suddenly pulled her back by her wings. "Absolutely not!" she said sternly, putting her hoof down. "How could you even think such a thing? That's horrible! The poor little frogs…"

Cirno blinked up at her in confusion. "Um… what's the problem? They're just frogs."

"They are creatures with feelings, just like you and me," Fluttershy told the ice filly. "How would you feel if someone did the same thing to you?"

Cirno shrugged. "Probably nothing… eye'm an ice pony… eye'm freeze-proof!" She grinned.

"W-well, that doesn't mean you get to abuse your powers as a bully. And… what if a bigger creature like a dragon came along and…"

"And used his fire breath to melt Cirno's little icicle wings down to little puddles," Pinkie completed the sentence. "With one single flame! RRAAAAWWRRR!"

Cirno gulped at the mental image. "I don't wanna have my wings melted…" she muttered.

"See?" Fluttershy said. "And it's the same with this frog. He's powerless against your ice. He's so weak and tiny and you can't just be mean to him just because you're stronger."

"But I don't get it…" Cirno scratched her mane. "He's just a stupid animal, isn't he?"

"And what if there are creatures that only see you as a silly little fairy who's in their way?" Fluttershy asked her.

"That'll never happen!" Cirno laughed. "Everypony knows eye'm the strongest!"

"Actually, Cirno…" Rumia spoke up. "That's pretty close to the truth, isn't it?"

"WHAT? Rumia! You're supposed to be on my side here!" Cirno shouted.

"But it's true! Every time you run into that shrine maiden or the black-and-white witch, it means trouble. What was it they called you? Idiot? Moron? Baka?"

"I get it, I get it…" the blue filly groaned. "Sheesh… fine, I won't freeze the frog." Annoyed, she crossed her forelegs.

Fluttershy smiled as she ruffled the younger pony's mane. "That's a good little filly… now come along, let's see if we can find Twilight and the others."

So they continued on their way along the lakeside, Pinkie still bouncing around the others and saying: "You think I could have some spellcards? Because I think I would have the most fun spellcards of them all… maybe they can involve balloons! Or streamers! Or even cupcakes! Do you like cupcakes? They are so sweet and tasty… oh, wait! I'll call my first spellcard: Pinkie Sign – Sugarcube Cupcake Storm!" She giggled.


	7. Spellcards

Aya and Rainbow Dash landed in front of the shrine, on a wide yard that was framed by tall trees on both sides. A young earth pony mare was standing in front of the gate, sweeping away some leaves that were lying on the ground with a broom. Attached to her green mane were some hair ornaments that looked like a snake and a frog's head. She was softly humming to herself as she did her work, but she looked up when the two winged ponies approached her.

"Hello, Aya," she smiled. "What brings you to the Moriya Shrine today?"

"Hey Sanae, I'd like to introduce you to my newest friend, Rainbow Dash. Rainbow, this is Sanae Kochiya, wind priestess of the shrine," the tengu made the introductions.

"Nice to meetcha," Rainbow said. "This is an awesome place you've got here, Miss Kochiya."

Sanae smiled. "Why, thank you. It is a sight, isn't it? Much bigger than the Hakurei Shrine, I might add. We are quite poud of it. And please, call me Sanae… everypony does."

"All right, Sanae," Rainbow Dash nodded. "Say, have you seen my friends? I've been looking for them ever since I got here."

"From what I've heard, Rainbow is not from Gensokyo," Aya explained. "Can you believe my luck? An interview with a pony from an outside world!" The reporter grinned with glee.

"Not from Gensokyo?" Sanae asked curiously as she put away the broom. "How interesting… I'm not from Gensokyo either, you know? I'm from the Outside World."

"So… you're from Equestria too?" Rainbow Dash asked. "But that's great! Maybe you can tell me how to get back home…"

"Equestria?" Sanae frowned. She shook her head. "No, I can't say I've heard that name before. But first things first… you said you're looking for your friends? Can you tell me what they look like? The shrine didn't have a lot of visitors today, so I think I'll be able to remember if they've been here."

So Rainbow gave the shrine filly an exact description of her five friends, down to their cutie marks. But in the end, Sanae had to shake her head again. "I don't think I've seen any of these ponies before. I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow sighed. "Oh well… thanks anyways. Dangit, I wish I had a clue so I knew how I should start searching…"

Sanae looked like she was thinking about something for a moment, then she said: "If you want, I could ask my patron goddess for advice. She's more powerful than any of us… if anypony knows where your friends are, it's her."

"Really?" Rainbow asked hopefully. "Wow, that sounds great… is she anything like Princess Celestia?"

"Who's that?" Aya wondered.

"Oh, nevermind… but yeah, please ask her. Is she here at the shrine?"

"Of course, this is where she lives," Sanae nodded. "The Moriya Shrine is the center of faith for her… just like it was for the goddess who this shrine was dedicated for originally."

"Originally?" Rainbow asked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's a long story… basically, Lady Kanako Yasaka defeated the former goddess of the shrine, Lady Suwako, in fair battle and took over. However, she was benevolent enough to allow Suwako to stay at the shrine."

"Wow… cool story. Wait a minute… that means you're sharing your home with two goddesses?" Rainbow gasped.

"Why not?" Sanae smiled with a shrug. "After all, one of them is my ancestor." She then turned around. "Please follow me inside. I will see if Lady Yasaka will grant you an audience. As long as she doesn't decide to welcome you with one of her spellcards, you should be fine."

Rainbow Dash was so baffled by Sanae's explanations that she was at a loss of words, for once. Then she realized what the shrine maiden had just told her. "Wait a minute…" she muttered. "What do you mean, spellcards?"

* * *

"Young mare, this has gone on far long enough… I ask you one last time, politely… stop this nonsense and let me talk to you like any rational, adult pony would do."

"NO!" Utsuho shouted charging up power for another miniature nuclear-powered star. "NUCLEAR POWER WINS!"

Celestia sighed. She flapped her wings once, slowly descended and landed on the thin metallic catwalk that was spanning over the reactor deep below them. "If this is your decision… I won't move. Give me your best shot!"

The nuclear pony grinned. "I win!" she declared and fired the miniature sun at the seemingly defendless princess.

Celestia's entire body, horn and wings included, were engulfed by the flaring explosion when Utsuho's projectile hit the catwalk. For several seconds, there was nothing below Utsuho but a raging inferno.

But then the flames parted… and there stood Celestia, completely unharmed. Using her magic, she parted the flames like it was second nature to her. There was not a single burn or even scratch anywhere on her body. She also didn't look the slightest angry or annoyed at the younger pony… maybe a little bit disappointed.

"Someone who is in charge of a reactor like this should know that the sun is nothing but a natural nuclear reactor… and since I am the power that controls the sun of Equestria, your little imitations never really were any danger to me. I was, however, worried about your well-being. You are obviously not a very intelligent pony - no offense, please! And I do not know if your body is actually able to endure as much heat as my own… and I'm definitely not going to find out by risking your life."

Utsuho didn't believe her eyes. She was completely taken by surprise that there was a being who was able to resist her nuclear powers… On top of that, she wanted to prove that nuclear-powered reactors were the best way to gather energy. But… then the white alicorn started to spout some things her befuddled little birdbrain did not understand. And now she felt like crying. Miserably, she sunk down on the catwalk in front of Celestia and lowered her head.

Celestia walked up to her and gently touched her shoulder. "Now now, no need to sulk, young one… I don't blame you for not knowing better. You shouldn't have been put in this situation in the first place. Now be a dear and tell me who put you in charge of this place."

"It… it was…" Utsuho stuttered.

"OKUU!" a surprised voice gasped. Celestia looked up to see that another creature had entered the reactor chamber. It wasn't a pony, though… it was a small black cat with two tails and red headfur. As old and wise as she was, Celestia instantly recognized her species.

"A kasha… I haven't seen one of these for several eons. Greetings, little one," she smiled.

"Y-you get away from my friend!" the cat shouted. She floated up into the air, surrounded by a multitude of spirit flames. "Whoever you are!"

"Relax, I am not going to hurt her. I merely stopped her from endangering herself. I am Princess Celestia… what is your name?"

Seeing that the alicorn didn't pose a threat, the kasha relaxed and floated back down. "I am Rin… this is my friend Utsuho, but we always call her Okuu."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Celestia nodded. "Perhaps you can answer me a couple of questions. Obviously, this is Gensokyo… but can you tell me where exactly we are? And who is in charge of this place?"

"This is the Hell of Blazing Fires in the Underworld, of course," Rin explained. "It's directly beneath the Palace of the Earth Spirits, where our mistress Satori lives."

"Interesting… can you take me to your mistress, then?"

"Um, sure, I can do that. Okuu… you take care of heat regulation until I'm back, okay?"

"Actually, I wish for her to accompany us," Celestia said. "Some of the things I have to tell your mistress concern this young mare here."

* * *

"Looks like there's something ahead… a big house…" Fluttershy said.

"A house in the forest? Just like Zecora's?" Pinkie asked curiously. "Oooooh, does that mean there's someone living in this forest too, brewing up potions and chanting weird stuff?"

"I don't think so, Pinkie," Fluttershy said in her quiet voice. "This house looks much, MUCH bigger than Zecora's hut… oh my… I think the only building I've seen before that's this big is Canterlot castle."

Cirno looked past her. "Oh, that's the Scarlet Devil Mansion," she told her new friends. "That's where the vampires live."

"V-v-vampires?" Fluttershy stuttered.

"Oooh, Vampires," Pinkie giggled. "I've always wanted to meet some vampires and throw them a party!" She then tilted her head and asked: "Ummm… what's a vampire?"

"Oh, they're those ponies with bat wings that live in the night, prey on other ponies and suck out their blood," Rumia said. For some reason, she seemed to be quite excited about the whole issue. "Man, I'd love to be as scary as them…" she added enviously.

Fluttershy gulped. "M-maybe we should go somewhere else…"

"Aw, there's nothing to be afraid of," Cirno grinned. "For a vampire, Remilia's quite nice. And I'm good friends with the gatekeeper, too… Hey, let's ask if your friends were here." And she flew off, towards the big metal gate in front of the mansion grounds.

Next to the closed gate, an earth pony with a red coat was standing. Her mane was tied up in two braids that framed her face, and she had a small, green hat with a yellow star in the middle. She was leaning against the wall, had her eyes closed and snored softly.

Cirno flew directly in front of the pony's face. Then, she shouted on top of her lungs: "HEYA, CHINA!"

The mare gasped in surprise as she was startled out of her sleep. She stumbled against the gate, shook her head and looked up at the ice pony. "Oh… it's just you, Cirno," she sighed. She then gave her an angry frown. "And my name's not China! It's Meiling! Hong Meiling, got it memorized?"

Cirno giggled. "Oops, sorry about that, Meiling. I'll try to remember. Were you sleeping on the job again?"

"O… of course not!" Meiling snorted. "I was just… closing my eyes for a second." The mare straightened her hat and tried to look imposing. "So… what are you here for, anyway? Playing with Miss Flandre?"

"Oh no," Cirno replied, shaking her head. "I'm here with my new friends." She pointed back to where Fluttershy and Pinkie were standing.

Fluttershy tried making herself as small as possible. Pinkie on the other hoof grinned and waved at the gate guard, then she hopped over to her and said: "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie and this is my friend Fluttershy. We're from Ponyville, have you been there before? Well, I guess you weren't, because I've never seen you there before, and if I've never seen you before that means you couldn't have been there since I know everypony in Ponyville… which reminds me, we're looking for our friends. Have you seen our friends? Oh right, you probably don't know what they look like. Well, there's Rainbow Dash who's a pegasus pony and has a mane colored like a rainbow… that's probably why she has that name. And Applejack, she wears a cowboy hat and loves apples. And then there's Rarity who's white and has a purple mane and I should mention that she's a unicorn and…"

"A white unicorn?" Meiling blurted out, glad that she had a chance to interrupt Pinkie's stream of words. "I do believe that Lady Remilia has a guest like that… but she told everypony not to disturb her."

"She has?" Fluttershy asked, her voice filled with hope. "Oh, how wonderful! That means Rarity is here." She smiled, happy at the prospect of seeing her friend again. "Can we please go in and talk to her?"

"I'm sorry, but no!" Meiling shook her head. "The mistress made it very clear that no one is allowed to bother her at the moment. I can't let anyone into the mansion without the allowance of the head maid."

"You're getting an allowance?" Pinkie asked. "Well, I guess guarding that gate is a well-paid job… I also get some allowance from the Cakes, as I'm living with them and helping them out in the bakery…"

"B-but please… won't you make an exception, Miss Meiling?" Fluttershy pleaded.

'She remembered my name!' was the first thing going through the gatekeeper's head. Still, she stood firm and said: "It's still no! I can't… if Sakuya finds out I'm slacking off again…" She gulped, unconsciously rubbing her head with her hoof. "I don't wanna be knifed again…"

"Isn't… isn't there anything you can do?" Fluttershy asked, giving Meiling the biggest puppy-dog eyes she had ever seen on a pony. "Pleeeaaaaase?"

"You can challenge her to a Danmaku fight," Cirno suggested. "That's what Reimu does whenever she wants to come inside. Blast her with Danmaku and everything's all right. Sakuya can't even punish her, since she did her job."

"Being blasted by amulets and Yin-Yang balls still hurts," Meiling grumbled. "Oh well, I guess I can't come up with a better idea… So, how about it? Beat me, and you're free to go in." She jumped to her hind hooves, raising her front legs to assume a strange pose.

"What are you doing?" Pinkie asked curiously.

"It's a martial arts pose," Meiling said. "I'm the best martial artist in Gensokyo! Still think you got a chance?" She grinned.

"Sure, I'll do it," Pinkie smiled as she bounced in front of Meiling. "Sounds like fun."

"P-p-pinkie, wh-what are you doing?" Fluttershy stuttered. "Y-you can't shoot those bullets Trixie used against us… you're not even a unicorn!"

"So? She isn't one either," Pinkie replied. "And I mean, how hard can it be?"

"Very well then… prepare yourself!" Meiling shouted. She leapt at the pink pony with a flying kick, her right hindleg outstretched. And as she was flying trough the air, she left a trail of rainbow-colord energy bullets behind.

"Wheeeee!" Pinkie giggled as she jumped up to avoid the flying kick… higher than any other earth pony would be able to. "This is FUN!" She giggled and twisted her body in a weird and erratic way, to dodge the incoming bullets.

"You haven't seen anything yet," Meiling shouted as she landed on her feet. She twirled around to face Pinkie again and shouted: "RAINBOW SIGN: INTENSE RAINBOW FIST!"

"All right, now she's using one of her spellcards!" Cirno shouted from the sidelines. The filly then tilted her head. "But… what's a fist?"

The martial artist came dashing at Pinkie, using her forehooves to attack her with a flurry of strikes, faster than the pony eye could see. Pinkie gasped and swung her head left and right all the time dodging the hoof-strikes, even though her body stood still the whole time.

"Woooooo, you're making me dizzyyyyyy if you keep that up," she said.

"Stop moving and let me hit you," Meiling shouted in frustration.

"Nono, I can't let you do that," Pinkie smirked. "You think the readers would still read this story after one of the main characters gets beaten in the first real battle?"

"What is she talking about?" Rumia whispered to Fluttershy.

The pegasus shrugged with a smile. "Oh, she's just being Pinkie Pie. We don't always understand her, but after some time, you'll get used to it."

"Would you start fighting back already… or are you too afraid?" Meiling snorted while still trying to hit the pink blur.

"Why should I be afraid of you?" Pinkie smiled. Her head twisted in a manner that would have broken the neck of every other pony to evade a solid hoofblow from the martial arts mare. "You're a nice pony, aren't you? A bit aggressive, maybe… you should try and relax. You have a hobby? Maybe you could try baking cupcakes. Oh, that reminds me… I wanted to try this out…"

The party mare then jumped up into the air, and a bright, glowing, pink circle appeared behind her. "PINKIE SIGN: SUGARCUBE CUPCAKE STORM!"

Meiling gasped when suddenly, a storm of colorful bullets manifested all around her… each one in the shape of a small cupcake. The whole cloud of pastel pastry projectiles then came raining down on the hapless martial artist. Meiling dashed left and right, forwards and backwards to dodge them, but every time one of the bullets hit the floor, it splattered just like any real cupcake would… only that in this case, it split apart in a multitude of even smaller Danmaku projectiles. In the end, she was hit at least a dozen times by this single spellcard.

"Wh-what…?" she grumbled. "What kind of spellcard is this?"

"Cool, huh?" Pinkie grinned. "I came up with it by myself while we were walking through the forest."

"But Pinkie… how?" Fluttershy muttered. She was overwhelmed by the fact that her earth pony friend was capable of such feats. "How do you know how to do that?"

"Well, duh!" Pinkie said, pulling a small brochure out of nowhere. "I read the instruction booklet. Good thing I found the English version… I can't read Japanese."


End file.
